This pandemic has been difficult on everyone, whether you are online or at home. One of the most beneficial things for a lot of people has been being able to do clubs and sports. Recently though, rules have changed. Now, online people can’t do sports and clubs anymore.

Sophomore Jackson Shemwell is an in-person student and is a member of the swim team. Being able to attend practice and swim every day with his team has greatly helped him.“Going to swim during the pandemic is nice because I get to see all my friends outside of school and get a good workout in.” Shemwell said.

However, some students are online learners and used to be able to do school sports and clubs, but now that option is invalid. “During the fall,” says sophomore Alexus Quayson-Sackey, “I was able to do cross-country, even though I was doing school virtually. It was nice to get with friends and destress from school,” Quayson-Sackey said. With the new rule though, her school routine changed. “When I first read that online students couldn’t participate in extracurriculars, I was very frustrated and disappointed because I would no longer be able to see some of my friends and use that as my stress reliever,” finished Quayson-Sackey.

Why did this rule come about though? “So first and foremost, it is not healthy for kids to be online and not to be present on campus. So our policy is that if you want to participate in your extracurriculars, you have to come attend classes during the day.” says Dean of Students Sam Salts. However, there are ways that you can go to extracurriculars and sports. “Are there exceptions to this rule?” continues Salts, “Yes, but there has to be a compelling reason, there has to be a doctors note, the counselor has to approve, the Dean has to approve.”