How Costa is zooming through activities

Kimi Danaei, Executive Theme Editor & Raven Ramsey, Theme Editor

Costa clubs have turned to Zoom for the 2020-21 school year to continue meetings virtually. Clubs were put on hold until late September to give students the chance to adapt to online learning and allow time for them to think about renewing or creating new clubs, according to senior and club coordinator Kayla Cushey. Club presidents were then sent a Google Form to put in general information about their clubs, such as club names and purposes, contact information, and Zoom links. A Google Classroom was also created for each of the club presidents to provide them with information on upcoming events.

“It has been a bit difficult to communicate with every club this year, as we would usually have monthly meetings where presidents would come to get information about club paperwork and upcoming activities and events,” Cushey said. “Even though this was hard initially, we have now made a Google Classroom for all the presidents to join where we will be posting this information.”

Due to this shift to virtual learning, clubs have had to adjust greatly. Many clubs will have to sacrifice fundraising opportunities such as Manhattan Beach’s annual Hometown Fair, Club Day and restaurant dining events, forcing club presidents to rethink ways of gaining funds for their clubs. Clubs will have to modify or cancel various charity events, creating many challenges. 

“Typically our club goes every other week to the Sunrise Senior Living Center to perform for seniors in the Memory Care facility,” senior and Power of Music Club President Brenly Parker said. “With COVID-19, however, these actions have been put on hold and our club is currently re-evaluating how we can contribute the most to the community through music during this hard time.”

One event was not been canceled is Costa’s Club Day, which took place on Oct. 14. In past years, the purpose of this event was to help clubs raise money by selling food and snacks during lunch. This year, however, the name and purpose of Club Day has changed; it is now called “Club Fair” and took place during SEL class, as well as after school on Oct.15 and Oct. 16. The event allowed students to join any club Zoom of their choice to learn more about Costa’s clubs and how to join them.

“We wanted to try and find a way to continue Club Day this year because clubs at Costa are one of the main ways to get involved and meet new people,” Cushey said. “We have around 130 clubs this year, so we thought it would be fun to give them a chance to show off what their club is about and gain new members, even if it’s virtually.”

Costa’s Drama Department will produce its annual fall play through Zoom this year. With the decision to remain teaching online, many departments have been affected. Last spring, the Drama Department planned to put on the play Into the Woods. However, with the decision to shut down Costa, the department had to cancel its show, causing severe losses in their budget.

Because of decrease in funding, the Drama Department had to rely on the PTSA for extra contributions, including new technology for students.

“We lost the show after we were already half-way through the project and had paid most of the production expenses,” Drama Director Jonathan Westerberg said. “The Drama Department has no past precedent for mounting virtual shows, so budgeting is a challenge; there is no past model to look at to help us know what to expect.”

This year, despite not being able to interact with each other in a classroom, the Drama Department decided to continue on with its plans to hold its annual fall play in an attempt to keep a sense of normalcy for the students, according to Westerberg. This year, the cast will perform an adaptation of Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology. The major difference this year, however, is that the play, as well as auditions and rehearsal, will be held through Zoom.

“We are discovering some of the joy of performing through a screen and taking time to learn the art of film, video performance, and production,” Westerberg said. “Instead of using room one and the Small Theatre for rehearsals and performances, we use Zoom as our space.”

Even with the Drama Department being optimistic about plans for the year, students feel as though some of this year’s changes, such as block schedule, hinder their ability to collaborate and connect with fellow students the same way they previously did.

“I feel like the district did the best they could for the arts program, but the block schedule leads to less time to work on pieces in class and results in a slower completion time,” sophomore and Costa Drama student Vanessa Steib said. “We can’t do class discussions with the Zoom format, but we all want to contribute which is hard.”

Many of Costa’s sports have begun in-person practice for the year, following various precautions suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and L.A. County.

Costa’s fall sports include boys and girls cross country, football, cheer, dance, boys and girls volleyball, and boys and girls water polo. After school closing in the spring, sports have held off in-person practice to ensure the safety of both students and coaches. Some sports have met through Zoom to do exercises and stay in shape for the return to practice. However, with the new school year beginning, the district has had plenty of time to discuss a variety of ways to hold practice while remaining safe.

“The district put a lot of time and effort into planning the return to in-person practice,” Costa water polo coach Jon Reichardt said. “As coaches, we also had to put a lot of time into coming up with the details of how to do things such as the time people arrive, where they stand, and where they put their things; the district reviewed what we came up with and tweaked it a little bit.”

The district has created a set of rules and precautions to limit the amount of exposure students have to one another. These precautions include maintaining a distance of at least six feet, wearing a face covering, screening and providing a negative covid-test result, remaining in cohorts of 12 and providing personal equipment. Practice will also only take place outside to provide space for students to distance themselves.

“I think going back to some degree of normalcy is good, but I also think that the limitations make it difficult to practice efficiently because we can’t just go right back to our traditional practice,” senior and Costa cheer team member Katrina Boren said.

With Costa’s campus being closed, athletes have to sacrifice the normal activities required for their sport. As games are canceled or postponed, athletes will lose the sense of competition their sport provides. Athletes will also have to sacrifice the fun activities and traditions they did with their team, causing them to lose the opportunity of building close bonds and friendships with their teammates.

“This year we won’t be able to do the drills and exercises we normally do with the team because of social distancing,” junior and water polo team member Nena Crow said. “Not being able to physically practice with the team playing together is a tough thing right now for the team, but we have to work with what we have for now.”

However, with the precautions set in place, the district, as well as athletes and coaches, felt it was safe for teams to return to in-person practices. Many students are very excited to be returning to their sport, as they missed practicing with their team and the collaboration it gave them.

“I’m looking forward to returning to in-person dance team practices, but I’ll miss dancing and practicing with our whole team,” senior and Costa dance team member Brynn Levin said. “It will definitely be a benefit to meet in-person because it will allow us to clean up our choreography and bond more.”

Despite the protocols being taken to ensure the safety of the students, there is still some uncertainty with how well this plan will work. This move to in-person practice exposes students to one another, making the risk of getting COVID-19 higher for both students and coaches.

“Even though we are taking precautions during our practices, there is a chance that we might still get sick and have to cancel everything,” junior and water polo team member Dylan Kircher said. “I don’t want to continue with practices, get too comfortable, and then realize we went too far.”