Pandemic POVs

Prefects Braeden Donnelly, Nolan Rush, and Eddie Jia were asked to reflect on how they have been staying engaged during the pandemic and how they have seen other students handling the challenges of COVID-19. Here are their thoughts.

Braeden Donnelly ’21

It has been a bittersweet year for the grads. The reasons to be bitter may be obvious, but with a little reflection, there is a sweet side.

As Old Boys, the Class of 2021 will be able to repeatedly enjoy An Andrean Christmas, Cadet Inspections, and the Focus Festival produced this year. Whether on campus and distancing or in online learning, there has been a need to film almost every assembly, chapel service, and coffee house; even individual projects have included some form of recording. Our whole year is documented and should become one amazing time capsule for our class. This is something no other grad class gets to have. I’m thankful and truly proud of my classmates for how well we’ve done with what we’ve been given this year.

During the fall and before transitioning to online instruction, the ACPlus programs started up as usual but with some mandatory precautions. As a Rock Band club member, I couldn’t have imagined a more exciting and engaging environment to be in on Wednesday afternoons. Despite not being allowed a singer in our bands, we rehearsed as normal and even recorded our cover of Sultans of Swing. Our recording was edited, mixed, mastered, and produced into something we can keep forever. The video of our recording is the most 2020 thing ever: six feet apart, masks on, jamming out as a band. I couldn’t be more grateful for such a unique experience.

After transitioning online in December, everyone tried to provide a unique, active online experience. Our Wellness team released a new schedule every week with recipes, workouts, and healthy activities. As Prefects, we rebooted the Commit-to-Fit Challenge started by our 2019-2020 counterparts. For First Hockey, we had weekly mental performance sessions with Coach Lucas Madill, which involved mindfulness, mental preparation, and visualization practice. We even had Zoom workouts. I’m still not used to being on camera every day, especially while working out. That being said, an online team activity is better than no team activity. Many other teams at the School are doing similar activities, which helps physically engage everyone.

I am most looking forward to our parade season in Cadets. As the Cadet Commanding Officer, I am incredibly impressed with how engaged and agile our Cadets have been, no matter the circumstances. Whether we run the inspections online, film each company individually, or have live inspections with limited numbers, we will get to see the 142 on parade in the spring in some capacity. The Cadet headquarters got to represent the Corps at our Remembrance Day ceremony and have since run our staff Cadet and Master Cadet courses virtually with little change in curriculum. Hopefully, we will see a loosening of pandemic protocols so our grads can parade one last time in uniform.

We could be bitter about our year, or we could choose to look deeper and realize how sweet this experience has been.

It has been an interesting journey as I reflect on spending my final year of high school during a global pandemic. I came to St. Andrew’s in Grade 9, and I remember the anticipation of being in Grade 12. I couldn’t wait: I would play in the First Football game at Homecoming; I would try out for the lead role in my final fall play production; I would sing on the stage with my classmates at An Andrean Christmas; if I became a Prefect, I would hopefully be able to plan the semi-formal dance; I would maybe be a lead in one of the shows at my final Focus Festival of the Arts; and, I could finally go to the Cadet Formal.

But, so far, none of those things I looked forward to has happened in the way I imagined.

Looking back to September, we were still faced with restrictions, but we began the school year in person. After months of being at home on SACFlex, the SAC online learning platform instituted in March 2020, I forgot how much I missed talking with my friends in Staunton Gallery, interacting with teachers in the classroom, and playing sports on Yuill Field.

In December, we returned to online learning. Our teachers made the transition easy and enjoyable, but the in-person connections were lost until we returned to school again in February. The good thing about online learning, though, is that I got to spend more time with my family. The School also did a lot to keep students engaged by continuing virtual chapel gatherings and instituting fun and healthy activities like the Commit-to-Fit Challenge.

One of the biggest hurdles the School faced was taking An Andrean Christmas online. Mr. Scoular, Head of Drama & Film, and all the teachers involved did a great job making it a virtual success. The student performers were amazing, and I am thrilled our final Andrean Christmas will be forever on video.

For SAC TODAY, the news show produced by Broadcast Journalism students, there were few adaptations to be made. It was a bit more difficult to produce the shows from home, but I could count on my parents and siblings for help with filming. Although we haven’t had as many reports on typical school events, we have had more time to explore other interests and topics from outside the School. The class this year has set a good example and a high standard for quality content for next year’s students.

Participating in Movember was unique this year. As a “Mo Captain” alongside classmates, Liam Taylor and Liam Stevenson, we faced some challenges with student engagement and raising money for the charity. Although we didn’t meet our fundraising goal, we were happy with what we raised for men’s health. I am sure the School can reach a higher goal next year, and I will be doing my best to help while at university. Once a Mo Bro, always a Mo Bro!

All in all, I’m happy about what we were able to accomplish as a graduating class this year. We still got to enjoy sports, carried on the tradition of An Andrean Christmas, and I am looking forward to the Focus Festival production.

As some of my university acceptances roll in, I am excited for what the future holds and grateful for my time being part of a resilient Andrean community.

Nolan Rush ’21

In September 2020, SAC’s quiet campus welcomed back its students after six months of silence. Securing safety while maintaining students’ physical and mental health, the new Upper School schedule helped normalize an otherwise challenging year.

Since September, the weekly schedule has included Wellness Wednesday, chapel sessions, leadership and band, extracurriculars, and advisory. The remaining weekdays are exclusively for academic periods. This new schedule achieved two goals: limited student traffic to enable social distancing, and provided a mid-week break for boys to engage in the nonacademic aspect of school life and stay mentally healthy.

As all of us moved online in December, it was obvious we handled the online learning better than we did last school year. Our teachers had mastered remote teaching skills by making clear expectations, clear communication on multiple platforms (Zoom, OneNote, Microsoft Teams), and a variety of teaching styles. Students have been motivated to keep up with their work and stay engaged. Understanding that students require a lot of concentration for remote learning, many teachers shortened their classroom time and added work periods to ensure a healthy schedule until we returned to in-person classes in February. As a Prefect, maintaining my academic performance wasn’t as difficult as keeping the community engaged; SAC’s strict pandemic protocols prevented us from hosting in-person Eddie Jia ’21 events. While predicting a reduction in students’ connection with school and campus, we proposed the year’s theme: Seize the Day. We encouraged students to adopt the safety protocols while embracing opportunities to participate and stay positive. We transformed in-person events into innovative online forums.

I was in charge of hosting a paint night for SAC students and girls from Trafalgar Castle School, an all-girls school in Whitby, Ont. We replaced the acrylic painting we had done in past years with digital drawing so everyone could participate from home. We also experimented with changing the task from drawing the same image to drawing different frames of a themed video, which stimulated participants to adopt distinct art styles.

I was nervous about hosting the virtual paint night on Zoom until students started to break the ice and chat about life and art just as they used to do. We compared our school schedules and interests, shared some laughs, and, of course, provided advice on each other’s illustrations. With about 60 participants and 120 frames of hand-drawn illustrations, the legacy of paint night continued, as well as the vitality of our community bonds.

The SAC school community has matured this year, and students have adapted to the ever-changing COVID-19 protocols. Everyone at St. Andrew’s can’t wait to get back to our regular, pre-pandemic lives. But we have proven that, no matter what happens, Andreans are truly resilient. X