With the coronavirus pandemic still raging across the state of Massachusetts, many new students in our community have not yet had the opportunity to make the vital connections within the grade Concord Academy prides itself on. Brett Kelly, Concord Academy's Student Activities Coordinator and Boys Tennis and Girls Soccer Coach, plans to change that with an upcoming orientation for new CA students at 1 pm on Saturday, January 30th. This event will use various spaces on campus, both indoors and outside.
Brett also detailed how this year has been an incredibly unusual and challenging year for school activity coordinators. Firstly, there is the glaring issue of logistics as well as safety precautions that must be followed. This issue includes the usage of space, the ability to serve food, as well as the number of chaperones that may be available. In addition, Brett spoke about how all events must be on campus, meaning that a few will need to be remodeled from the ground-up. "There is a lot of planning and organization that goes into setting up an event on campus [as of now];" however, he does see some solace in the future, saying we may be able to have more activities and events that can be held off-campus.
As for now, Brett recommends that new students should "try something new, get out of your comfort zone. You never really know what you are going to like or who you are going to meet unless you get involved and make an effort." So while the future may be uncertain, we can always count on CA to provide well-thought-out and creative solutions to the problems we face.