Overlake Students Head Back to School and Sports
What School and Sports Look Like in 2021!
By Sarah G. and Parie K.
In a year unlike any other, students at The Overlake School have been able to participate in sports practices, and now games and meets are beginning to happen. The cross country team had their first race of the season on February 27th at Granite Falls. Starting the season off strong, the girls’ team came in first place. This was also the first girls' meet win for the Owls! Sophie Sharp, ‘22, a team captain, says, “I am really excited for the rest of the season! We have a really strong team this year with all the new freshmen! The season went by quickly but it is very fun! Everyone works very hard and even though it’s hard running in masks, everyone works their hardest despite the challenges!” Due to the coronavirus, races look different than usual, and one of the changes is wearing masks while racing. The first race was two miles to introduce wearing masks while racing, but the next races are 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), which is the usual distance. To spread out the runners, the students are organized into heats, each starting 1 minute apart. This allows the students to be more distanced, especially at the starting line, which is typically crowded.
Additionally, Overlake’s league, the Emerald Sound league, split into two groups. One group, which includes Overlake, wears masks while racing, and the other group does not wear masks. The masked and unmasked groups run the same course but at different times. Incredibly, for this first race at Granite Falls, the Overlake girls’ team came in first place, including the masked and unmasked runners. In the second race, 5 kilometers, Overlake came in second place, with The Bush School taking first place. Then, in the third meet, Overlake worked hard and earned first place. The third race was different, as a few teams originally running with masks, transferred into the non-mask group. So, Overlake’s runners competed against 2 other teams that were scored. An outstanding freshman runner, Talia Willson, comments on how the majority of the schools in our league have chosen to run without masks. “It’s much harder to pace myself. Usually, I can run with girls I know I’m a similar pace to, but now there are only a few girls of a similar pace to me” Talia says. Running with people around you encourages you to go faster, keep up with them, and beat them, but with fewer girls, there is less competition. Talia also states that “at first, running with masks was really difficult, but I’ve slowly gotten used to it and found ways to make it easier. It is still noticeable though and I think I could definitely run faster without it. I still think it’s good that we’re wearing masks to stay safe — plus it acts almost like altitude training!” So, although running with masks is a challenge, runners have started to become accustomed to this change. Now at the midway point, the Overlake cross country team is working hard to finish the season strong.
The recent transformation from online school to hybrid has been very successful and exciting. Not only have we been able to meet our friends and see our teachers, but we also have finally been able to use the new Math and Science Building. Hybrid school is when half of the school comes to school on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the other half on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The green cohort goes to school on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the gold cohort goes on Wednesdays and Thursdays. After a whole year of online learning, seeing people in person was extremely refreshing and a lot of fun. Although a few teachers have decided to remain online, simply being able to sit in their classrooms is a drastic change. Sitting in classrooms has given us a sense of normalcy and seeing the posters around the room also helps us fully understand our teacher. While in the class, working in groups has also been extremely beneficial to our learning. Being able to bounce ideas off of other kids helps us to understand the content better. Kids who were new this year finally got to meet friends in their cohort, which was long overdue. Not knowing anyone you go to school with in real life/only knowing them through a screen can be challenging and lonely, so we can’t even imagine what meeting classmates after so long would finally feel like. Overall, hybrid school has been a positive experience. Adding to the experience, the new Math and Science building is so big and beautiful. It has several classrooms, all of which are large and spacious, and it has many hangout and homework areas. During any breaks during the school day, many kids hang around the building and talk to their friends. The Math and Science building is a great addition to the Overlake School campus.
Works Cited
Owls Start the Season Strong. 5 Mar. 2021, www.overlake.org/node/1968. Accessed 15 Mar. 2021.
