By Mackenzie Ferguson

Lower Schoolers march around Grover Jones field as part of the 2020 Collegiate Homecoming on Nov. 6.

Although this year has been new and at times challenging for Collegiate students and families, our faculty and staff have worked extremely hard to create a safe and clean environment where we are able to learn and interact in person, with COVID-19 precautions. But what about the school traditions that we know and love? From Homecoming to Brunch, and all the events in between, the Collegiate community has come up with several alterations so the students can still enjoy these classic events, while following CDC guidelines. Especially since many students are extremely busy with their workload, the work and creativity put into these events is admirable, so students don’t lose sight of the social occasions that happen on campus. 

Collegiate families decorated their cars for the 2020 Collegiate Homecoming Pep Rally Parade on Nov. 7.

When picturing Homecoming, many students looked forward to the big football game followed by pictures, dinner, and an unforgettable Homecoming dance. But with COVID-19, Collegiate decided to recreate parts of Homecoming in a safe, yet communal way that still continued the excitement. As part of Spirit Week and Pep Rally, or “pre-Homecoming,” Upper School Director of Student Life Beth Kondorossy other faculty and administrators put together several activities in place of the traditional events in November.

There was a car parade on what would have been the day of the Homecoming football game and Upper School dance, Saturday, Nov. 7. Students and their families decorated their cars and drove through Collegiate’s campus. Along with the families, fall varsity sports athletes stood along the sides of the parade, celebrating their younger Cougar classmates and their graduating seniors. There was also a raffle for prizes.

In regards to the Homecoming Court, the members of the Court still continued to do the annual relay race, and each senior pair was filmed doing a task to complete the race. When asked beforehand what the experience might be like, Homecoming Court member Lily Hunnicutt (‘21) said, “I’m just excited to be doing it. I know it’s going to be lots of fun, even though it wasn’t what I had always thought it was going to be.” Between tricycle racing, mummifying a tree, and spelling out “Collegiate” with posters, the girls Homecoming court was able to come home with the victory.

Another tradition during Homecoming, the Spirit Squad, also created an alternative for their classic “HEY!” dance. Match journalist and co-captain of the Spirit Squad Grace Cornell (‘21) spoke before the event. Cornell stated that, “There is no HEY! dance, but there is a cheer squad dance that has been choreographed by Cami Villanueva (’21) and that was recorded and sent out to all the members of the cheer squad. Those girls will then record themselves doing the dance which will then be compiled into one big video.” To conclude the week, SCA streamed a live assembly with the relay race video and the announcement of the 2020 Homecoming King and Queen. The winners were both SCA co-chairs John Ballowe (‘21) and Kate Aaronson (‘21).  

The 2020-21 boys varsity soccer team during the Pep Parade.

Overall, I think that SCA organized Homecoming in the best way possible, and many of the students seemed to enjoy it. While I wish there had been a little more school interaction, the excitement was still there, and it all around was very successful.

Most recently, Pageant, the special Christmas performance presented annually by Collegiate 5th-8th Grade girls at All Saints Episcopal Church, was produced as a photo compilation video. The senior girls had the special privilege of dressing up as the Pageant characters and posing as their photos were being taken. The scenery that usually perches on a large ladder and wooden blocks at All Saints was recreated in Oates Theater on November 21.

Hunnicutt said that the whole set-up went better than anticipated. “I enjoyed it, but it was a little strange seeing the tradition be so different.” Hunnicutt says that one memorable aspect of Pageant in the past was getting ready with the rest of the girls as they put on the traditional costumes. This year, “Instead of taking lots of time to get ready, we just got dressed and took photos at a social distance.”

The girls were still able to wear the costumes that have been worn for decades and still experience some sort of normality of Pageant. The same songs that all of the alumni know and love will still be played as the slideshow rolls through. And the senior girls were able to have one last opportunity to take part in a Christmas holiday tradition. 

Upper School Head Patrick Loach has announced that after exams are complete, the final Pageant video will shared with the community.

And as for Brunch? Well, it is still undecided. Whistle mornings still happened, just not as frequently as usual. And the Senior-Fleur tradition, where junior and senior girls are paired up, still happened. Other than that, things are still unclear. For now, Brunch is currently postponed in the hopes of doing an in-person performance. While the performance is already delayed, this would be the best option, in my opinion, because the live experience of emotion between the juniors and seniors is by far my favorite part of Brunch. But if COVID-19 procedures remain, the junior girls will have to record the performance and put it into a movie for the senior girls to watch. As a current junior girl, I would love to host Brunch in person. But I also highly respect everyone’s safety, so if the decision comes down to a movie, I think it will turn out just as well. Personally, as long as the senior girls get a performance dedicated to them, I think that it will be a monumental achievement. 

Yes, it is unfortunate that we are in a time of social distance and strict health orders, but we should make the most of  it. I think, overall, Collegiate has done a phenomenal job. I hope that in the future things will change, and everything will be in person. But for now, Collegiate has done the best they can, and for that, I am extremely grateful.

All photos courtesy of Collegiate School.