This year has not been kind to annual events. Outdoor gatherings and public ceremonies alike have been cancelled in light of the ongoing pandemic. With this sudden halt marking a (hopefully) temporary end for celebrations, the presence of joyous feelings that arise from them are at a considerable low; however, none of this could stop the ever-creative Monarchs from finding new ways to push through with school activities.
The show must go on, and one in particular did just that: Southville’s Spirit Week.
Through a joint-collaboration between Southville’s Model United Nations (MUN) Club and the Kindness Project, Southville’s 2020 School Spirit Week was celebrated virtually on social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. This academic year marked the first Spirit Week to be done completely online due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.
“This school spirit week was initiated by Sir Jude Cuntapay, a proactive Director General of the MUN Club. His initiative and drive to create a school-wide event through an online platform could not stop the SISC Kindness Project [from being] reeled in to happily work with the MUN volunteers,” says Jules Catungal, the Spirit Week spokesperson of the Kindness Project during the September 21st morning assembly.
These student organizations worked to deliver an enjoyable experience for all Monarchs to celebrate. Despite the opportunity for a live event commemorating the school’s 30th Anniversary seemingly lost, the student organizations still carried on to prepare a program that fellow Monarchs can participate in through entirely non-physical means. 7th Grader Rayschele Greogrio, a spokesperson of the MUN Club in the mentioned assembly, says “I think at first, it's kind of different from what this event used to be. However, given ‘the new normal,’ students will adjust easily as [to] what the purpose of Spirit Week should be.”
Whereas the previous year’s events centered on different booths and talent competitions, this year’s shift to digital means gave birth to new activities prepared by the Kindness Project and MUN Club. Prior to its official launch, Facebook profile frames were released in green, purple, and pink representing a Monarch's growth, ambition, and love respectively. The following days had fun games in the form of interactive Instagram stories, like Monarchs’ Tic-tac-toe, Battle of The Likes, Design-Your-Own Wallpaper, and Trivia Quiz. Quarantine-bored students with cabin fever got to express themselves as they once did live on campus. There was time for reminiscing about the days in a pre-COVID-19 world, and there was an ignition of hope for a brighter future ahead. Despite the situation, SISC’s Monarchs remained connected with each other.
The success of this event was evident among the student volunteers. Among various things, the two spokespeople emphasized that collaboration was the most important factor in the execution of their plans.
“While working on this event, our team was able to share ideas and work together for a common goal, which is to make this event successful, fun and exciting so that students will participate actively. Lucky enough, a lot of students participated in this event and we are very happy with the outcome,” Rayschele mentions. Jules states that he “[thought] we surpassed expectations seeing that this was one of the very first student-led program that involves the whole student body . . . I got to meet new people, and while leading them in the department I was assigned to had its own difficulties, they were [definitely] there to help me and they [were] always open to suggestions.”
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