Skyhawks spice up the season

Students have fun while staying safe this fall

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Eva Lynch, Reporter

This fall is bound to be unlike any other. This year, teens are focusing more on staying safe than the usual fall festivities. However, the spirit won’t go down without a fight. After all, some seasonal traditions just can’t be stopped. 

With recent shutdowns and safety precautions, COVID-19 takes precedence over any festivities. Yet, with the spirit of fall fully upon us, many teens are looking to newer, safer alternatives to the same fall activities. 

Experiencing the pandemic over fall made new restrictions ever more evident, ones that could potentially undermine the spirit of the holidays. 

“I wasn’t allowed to hang out with friends or do a majority of the activities I would have done,” senior Andrew Gerber says.

That didn’t stop Gerber, or many others in the same situation, from finding ways to emulate fall traditions and the liveliness of the Halloween spirit. 

Gerber kept most of his activities this year at home and outdoors, carving pumpkins, camping, and spending time with family. When he did go out to events such as haunted houses, he made sure to keep it safe, just as many other teens are doing. 

Gerber is not alone in his search for a safe way to keep the spirit alive this Halloween. Many teens are taking more time than ever spending the season with their families, jamming out to spooky tunes, getting creative, and doing it all from the comfort of their own homes. 

Social media is filled with amazing makeup and costumes to embrace the season. Carved pumpkins and photo shoots are more common than big parties. Even our school is getting in on the festivities through social media. With fun activities and spirit days, it is evident that everyone is willing to put in a little effort and open-mindedness this fall. 

With this open mindedness to adapting traditions in wake of the pandemic, many opted to stay home rather than trick-or-treat this year, making way instead for scary movies, blankets, and most importantly, a big bag of candy to fill the night. Many chose to have fun and stay safe, something that is very possible with the right attitude.

On top of typical fall activities for students, many seniors have begun to take their last year of high school into their own hands as well. This year, rather than celebrate as a whole, individuals are planning their own events with small groups of friends. 

Aubrey Bucher is one of many students who has found a way around the struggles of being a senior in a pandemic. 

“I got together with some friends and did a senior sunrise at the beginning of the year and decorated a senior crown and everything. I also went to homecoming with a couple friends as well,” Bucher says

For Bucher, senior events are a trademark aspect of high school and signify the end of a period in life. It is important for many seniors to hold on to high school traditions. 

In these traditions, high schoolers get a “last hurrah” along with “a fun way to show school spirit, get dressed up, and spend time with friends,” Bucher says. 

Now more than ever before, it is important to find ways to have fun, whether it be virtually, safely in person, or at home. For seniors, this year will definitely be one to remember, and some old traditions may just happen to make the pages of 2020. 

In the presence of a great misfortune, creativity and perseverance have inspired a resolve to not only stay safe, but to make the most of the situation we are in while doing so.