Last week was the first Spirit Week of the year at MC. It seemed to bring a sense of normalcy to an otherwise turbulent school year.    Monday was jersey day and students came to school wearing their favorite athletes’ jerseys. Then came Tuesday which was college day and students wore their favorite university’s apparel.

However, Tuesday afternoon also brought some bad news. Three students had tested positive for COVID-19, and school would need to go remote for the rest of the week.

This was disappointing on many levels, especially to the student council members who had worked hard to create the themes for Spirit Week, and to the administration which has worked hard to keep the school as safe as an environment as it can be.

Mr. Brooks Nevrly is hopeful that the canceled theme days, such as frat and career day, can be rescheduled.

“They will either be in the first trimester or when we attempt again to do Spirit Week in the springtime.  We have not physically discussed it, but I think a lot of people would be open to that perspective.”

And while the spring offers a hope of normality this year, the question of the COVID-19 pandemic looms large. As we have seen this year, many schools have shut down after just mere weeks. Although MC has proven its ability to protect the student populace, it does not necessary mean that a move back to online is not in the near future, especially with the city of Chicago seeing a rise in COVID cases.

When asked about online Spirit Days, Nevrly expressed openness.

“Absolutely, there could be online Spirit Days.  I think COVID has allowed student council to be even more creative.  (They had prepared online Spirit Days when we were still in physical school for streaming different sports – basketball and flag football.)  I believe this same philosophy can be adapted, but only if there is enough student participation.”

In terms of future events as we move into the beginning of winter, it does not seem likely that any more events will occur, especially as the CDC warns about flu season and the likely effect it will have on COVID numbers.

When asked about rescheduling some of these events in the future, Nevrly was realistic.

“In the near future, no there are no plans.  Our next planning date would be in the springtime when a lot of sports are going on and the warm weather can help our activities.  In trying to keep down the various infections at school, gathering students together in the winter does not seem feasible.”

As the school year continues, the council will look to improve day to day life for students. However, with a global pandemic, you have no guarantees on how the rest of this school year will go.