How Students are Engaging in Regular Activities alongside COVID-19 Restrictions

With the majority of students still not able to attend school and hold traditional activities like football games, homecoming, recitals, students have turned to try and bypass the school sponsored events. With the school year speeding by, it is a now or never type of deal for a lot of students, for the time may never come again. 

The first thing students have done? Homecoming. Dubbed “foco” for the fake aspect of it, many students created their own groups and did what is traditionally done during homecoming night. These activities include pictures, dinner, and a get together- fancy suits and dresses included in the festivities. 

Many upperclassmen groups have already taken lead and held various foco events throughout the county at different venues. These traditional venues include Claude Moore Park and the Lansdowne Resort. After their pictures, groups go to restaurants like Sweetwater Tavern, Matchbox, or Olive Garden. What proceeds may vary, students either go to each other’s houses for the night, or the night may conclude as they try to follow health restrictions. 

This is just one of the first events to come out of the Potomac Falls High School student body. With the future of school, sports, and activities still up in the air, it’ll be hard to gauge if this will be the first and last of the traditional events. 

However, there are a lot of traditional events that students will want to participate in regardless of the moves administrators and faculty make in regards to COVID-19. These events, and what may be done within them – just like FOCO is without a dance – may be limited, but the memory of planning and either dressing up or being amongst your peers and friends is what makes the memory stick. 

Snowcoming, prom, and sports are among some of the biggest events that students -seniors especially- will gather before waiting on a potentially negative decision from school administrators. Teachers, parents, and students are continually trying to find ways to manage the risk of being harbored in a room because of the risk of a virus, or creating a long-lasting memory. Some students choose fun, while others choose safety.