Field Day is always so much fun in the Middle School, but this year due to COVID some events and fun had to be cut short for overall safety. This year we also had some fun additions to make up for some losses. Field Day 2021 had great reactions from students and staff. Field Day’s organizer, math teacher Bill Caldwell, was delighted with the event. ”I honestly believe that this year’s Field Day has to be at the top of my list of all of the Field Day’s that I have been a part of,” says Caldwell. “If there ever was a year that we really needed to finish off the year outside with all of the Middle School students competing against each other in the Field Day events, this was the year. We were so lucky to be able to get it in this year, and I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out.” 

COVID definitely forced some changes to this year’s event. “With all of the COVID restrictions all of the students needed to be supervised,” says Director of Student Life Tina McCormick. “We couldn’t just release people and can’t have huge pep rallies and stuff like that which really sucks. This year we were really trying to involve the House Cats. We also had events that aren’t necessarily athletic so the kids who don’t usually like Field Day can have fun and contribute.” 

The faculty and staff did a great job chaperoning the kids to remain safe and overall planning around COVID to still have fun. “I’m really happy we got to do it this year even though we had COVID,” says 8th grader Jerome Bettis. “I feel like it changed the format a little bit but I think our grade chairs and all of our faculty handled it very well while having fun”.

 This year for our safety we had to have more teams so we could limit having huge groups of people. Having smaller groups increased the competitiveness in the students. ”Field day really got my adrenaline going, and being together on a team was really fun even with COVID,” says 8th grader Mason Theis.

This year luck of the die was a big talking point within the students and how we all missed it. ” I wish we had luck of the die because it could have pulled my team forward to win Field Day,” says Mason Theis. A lot of students didn’t know why Luck of the Die was removed. Caldwell explains, “Luck of the Die was not in this year’s field day due more to the time restraints and not the COVID protocols. The time for each rotation was cut from an hour to 45 minutes which cut out the time needed for Luck of the Die. There is also a little more close contact congregating at the numbers, but that wasn’t the major decision in the change; it was all about time.” 

 This year’s Field Day added some new events due to other events being removed. ”We also had to remove some of the individuals and track events as well due to the lower numbers on each team and the time shortened rotations,” says Caldwell. “Swimming and the shot put was taken out of the individual events, and the girls and boys 400m and one of the 4X100 races had to be eliminated as well.” 

Some students don’t like Field Day events due to their athletic focus. ”I had some fun on field day. I am not so athletic and I’m not very good at the sports I play, so I did not participate in many events, says 8th grader Chloe Carlton. “I really liked cheering for my friends and dressing up because I love theatre and I’m a thespian.” 

This year’s Field Day was a huge success, generating many positive feelings. This event was a great, fun break right before exams and was so much fun while staying safe. ”I also have to thank all of the students for making Field Day such a great event,” says Caldwell. “All I heard was great things from all of the faculty about how well behaved and respectful all of the students were and I thank you all for that.” 

Thank you Mr. Caldwell and faculty for an awesome Field Day!