Missing senior year: Pandemic leaves senior activities uncertain

Missing senior year:

Pandemic leaves senior activities uncertain

By Isabella Castellanos Joa, Staff Intern

At first, they thought lockdown would just be for a month. Then spring sports were canceled. Then graduation.

Then the first day of senior year was remote. Fall sports were postponed. Homecoming was canceled.

The state forced schools to open in October, but about 90% of seniors stayed home.

“Because of COVID, I’m more comfortable at home,” senior Sierra VanDreason said.

COVID-19 cases spiked in November and December, ruling out a full face-to-face return for the start of the second semester.

Forty-five out of 279 seniors signed up for at-school learning for the second semester, but never have that many shown up. Only 19 seniors were present at the start of third quarter on Feb.11.

Grad Bash, prom, a senior send-off pep rally and graduation all seem likely to be canceled, and senior year, with its great expectation as a rite of passage, will be over like a mouse click on the “Leave” button.

“I’m sitting in my bedroom for eight hours a day on my computer looking at my teachers through a screen... it’s not ideal,” senior Bria Kuntz said. “I’m just another Microsoft Teams bubble in the meeting.” After years of perceiving past classes’ graduations and celebrations, a void is waiting to be filled.

“Looking at my freshman and sophomore years and seeing what the seniors got to do and how they were feeling and reacting to certain things made me feel like, ‘I want to know what that’s like,’” Kuntz said. “This year has taken that away from us … It’s like I just want to graduate and get this over with.” As many seniors define them, these traditions are a rite of passage that make the last year of high school a memorable moment.

“We are celebrating us, and to have that taken away it’s like ‘Well, I have a diploma, but I don’t have any memories,’"senior Amniche Guerrin said.

The remote experience could have effects long after the pandemic is beaten. In past years, being on campus gave seniors the advantage to get quick answers about college and applications from counselors and advisers.

“It’s impacted the rapidity that students can access quality information,” school counselor Kathleen Fish said. “Communication and time for overturn has definitely lengthened.”

Despite every ounce of difficulty, seniors have sought ways to stay involved with the school.

“The pandemic not allowing me to participate in normal senior activities is sad,” senior Diego Orellana said. “But football Senior Night and all those sports activities have helped to make up for what we have lost.”

Seniors have tried to look forward and learn from what the year had to offer.

“It’s a new challenge that has been presented to us,” Guerin said. “New obstacles, things to overcome, and new ways to live that have been shown to us throughout this year.”

Homecoming King & Queen.

Meldrina Jeantinor and Hilton Etienne stand together for a picture after becoming the 2019 homecoming king and queen.

PHOTO BY ROMY GARRAUD

Holding onto memories. David Dos Santos holds Ryan Pszanka at Homecoming 2019. PHOTO BY SOPHIA RAPP

Staying inside the lines. Tobias Burrowes paints his parking spot in the senior lot in October 2019. PHOTO BY SANAA BRYANT

We got this. Seniors Matthew Shanbom, Jordan Greene and Eduardo Andrade exult in the team's performance on School Duel, an academic quiz school produced by Broward Educational Communications Network. The seniors' knowledge helped them reach the final of the Broward National Honor Society Brain Brawl on Feb. 17, which they lost.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SANDY MELILLO

Clash of Brains: Brawlers chart path to wins

By Alisha Durosier, Opinion Editor

The Brain Brawl team remains undefeated this year. As it approaches the finals, the six member team, sponsored by English teacher Sandra Melillo, is pleased with how far it has gotten in the competition, especially after last year's early defeat.

Made up of National Honor Society members, the Brain Brawl team participates with 17 other schools’ teams in a 4v4 double elimination tournament run by the Broward NHS. Each game features 20 questions on topics ranging from the arts to mathematics and science. The game is split in two halves, which allows teams larger than four to participate.

“I don’t know what questions are going to come up in each half, but I try and figure out who needs to be in all the time and who should be in together, and who needs to be playing at certain times so we could cover as many subjects as we can,” said senior Matthew Shanbom, the captain of the team.

Shanbom’s role as captain is to recognize the individual strengths and weaknesses of his teammates and strategize accordingly. To prepare, members of the team hold one practice in between competitions where they review and study past questions.

“As a brain brawl competitor, I was able to experience the adrenaline of sitting behind a buzzer and the excitement of scoring points on trivia even we didn’t know we knew,” senior Jeffrey Drew said.

However, in the wake of the pandemic, Brain Brawl tournaments were moved completely online.

“At the end of the day, it's just our team, the buzzer, and the question,” Drew said. “I would say that COVID has not in any way diminished the strength of our team.”

While last year’s team lost early to Blanche Ely and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, this year’s team has advanced to the finals.

“This year we haven't lost a single game yet, and we are very happy about that,” Shanbom said

Members of the team look forward to going against Western High School

“I'm very excited to go to finals,” said junior Dilan Gobea, who is new to the team this year.

Three out of the six members of the Brain Brawl team, including Shanbom, also participated in BECON TV’s annual broadcast game show, School Duel, where teams of three from various Broward schools compete to win $1,000 and Chick-Fil-A for a year. The team’s first-round match-up airs on May 6. The experience gives the team confidence going into the final round.

“Going into the final matchup I feel refreshed from the comfortable win last round and well-prepared by our studying,” Drew says.

Four out of the six members of the team are seniors, leaving the roles they fulfilled open.

“I hope to be the captain next year,” says Gobea. “But any role next year sounds great to me.”

Drew credited Melillo’s leadership as important to the team’s success.

“Without her dedication, energy, and practice materials, we wouldn’t be in the same pursuit of academic excellence,” Drew said. “Brain Brawl is one of the rare opportunities where reading, extensive knowledge in niche fields, and academic study is directly rewarded in a competition format,” Drew says. “Over the many matches we played, there is one notion which has been emphasized: knowledge is power.”