Page 55 - Education February 2022 final_Neat

Sports

Organizing school-sponsored sports teams involves mandatory health safety protocols for
participants and coaches. A limited number of participants may be required, and practice days
and times could be adjusted to decrease total number of participants gathering at one time.
Schools would all lean more toward outdoor sports than indoor sports. Indoor sports would
require many different health safety protocols.
Elementary schools could organize non-competitive sports activities, taking place outside only,
such as tennis lessons, soccer, basketball, baseball skills, or even karate instruction. The fall and
spring months in most places are usually the best times of a year for outdoor athletic activities.
When the winter months arrive, schools can limit capacity and host non-competitive sports
opportunities inside a school gymnasium.

Hybrid

Most in-person extracurricular activities can be transferred
outside for meetings; this would include scout programs and
many middle and high school leadership clubs. After school
clubs that require equipment only available indoors could
divide the large groups into two groups to meet the local
Covid-19 protocols for gatherings. The normally large group
separated into two groups, group A and group B, could be
arranged to meet on two different days, creating a hybrid
system. The two groups would alternate and a live streaming
could take place for the group not in the school building.

Outdoor social distancing
Schools can organize small book clubs for students to meet outside to participate in book discussions.
Each student could bring a lawn chair and sit in a circle formation that allows for six feet of separation
between students. A variety of other groups could meet using this format to discuss other topics like
science and history or share Lego creations.
Extracurricular activities are necessary, expected, and valuable for students of all ages. Students need
the opportunity to achieve success outside of the classroom or attempt an activity that sparks students’
interests and may later ignite a future passion that could inspire a career.

EDUCATION 55
DURING THE PANDEMIC