Student Committee Finds Creative Ways to Stay Social

With the ongoing global pandemic, the last two calendar years—or three academic years for students—have been challenging. Finding ways for teenagers to be able to safely gather and carve out a bit of normalcy in an otherwise abnormal time has been a priority for not only the school but for Student Committee.

At the outset of the school year, the Senior School Student Committee was faced with a unique challenge: how can students safely gather to socialize while maintaining cohorts and abiding by the school’s COVID-19 safety guidelines? The answer: reimagine the traditional school social events and move some of them outside.

“Sunrise socials are an event we put together that would be good with all of the COVID-19 regulations, and it was a way for all of the students to come together in the morning and be social with each other,” explains Student Committee Co-Chair Erica Cameron. “Students have been able to listen to some good music, enjoy some hot chocolate and cookies and it has been a really nice way to start the day.”

“I think ultimately we just said we need to start the year with a really creative mindset,” says Josh Armstrong, Senior School faculty member and Student Committee liaison. “Knowing that we’re not back to normal because of COVID—and we’re going to have to think about practical ways that we can maintain the cohorts to bring people together in a safe way—is what we have all been tasked to do.”

For students now in Grade 11/12, the last time they had a taste of the kind of fun community-building activities that take place in a typical school year was back when they were in Grade 9/10, which included school dances, spirit days, concerts, full-school Morning Meetings on Fridays, and house competitions and challenges.

“It has been a challenge for us as a committee to plan different events but also for the students to change their ideas of what is possible in this time and still enjoy the experience—the alternative is still going to be just as fun, but it may be a little different,” Cameron says. “It has been really important for students to feel a little bit more normal to try to get back to that spirited fun.”

The opportunity to meet new friends and to gather socially within their cohorts has been welcomed by students. Participation has been strong not only for the sunrise socials but for the outdoor Halloween costume parade and for a “decades week” event, a new event this year. Students voted on their choice of decades (1920s, 1970s, 1980s and 2000s were selected) and then dressed according to the featured decade and participated in special lunchtime activities. On 1980s day, Morning Meeting welcomed Tom Everson ‘84, who spoke about life as a PC student at that time, bonding with his classmates and friends as they lived in “trailer city” following the fire of 1981.

“It’s hard to be a teenager right now during the pandemic and not getting the exact same version of some of that super social stuff that is just a normal part of being a developing teen,” says Armstrong. “We’re trying to bridge that the best we can but also recognize that it’s not perfect.”

As for what’s next, Student Committee is going full steam ahead, brainstorming new ideas that continue to provide meaningful opportunities for students to connect with one another outside of the classroom. “Honestly whatever the committee can do to make the lives of students better in terms of events and activities, I think we will do whatever it takes,” Cameron says. “We’re really fortunate at PC to have students that are so dedicated to expanding their leadership horizons,” adds Armstrong. “They always seem to find a way of making something work, even when things are difficult and it’s a testament to the students that have made it through COVID; I appreciate how they persevere.”