LAFAYETTE – On Tuesday afternoon, the giant orchestra program at Lafayette Jefferson High School was divided and divided into the school grounds into small groups.
As the scholars played, his mask hung from his chin, emerging around his mouth and nose as soon as the game stopped.
Music desks were disinfected after use. The tools had cloth hood caps placed over them to restrict the spread of outgoing air. Touching the play of feet without tools, the band spread across the school’s top floor of education and the percussion organization played with their masks.
It was a different scene from Lafayette Jeff, and the rest of LSC’s one-week organizing program and a great summer program, condensed in just a few weeks before the scheduled start of the school year.
Like everything else, this year’s plans had to be adjusted and reassessed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“To be honest, it’s very stressful for many of us, especially in the music world where we have a lot to think about, adding the airflow of tools and big classes,” Chris Paulson, LSC’s organizational director, told me. “But is this an example of how schools can work? Yes, I do.”
LSC’s music and dance program is extensive, with approximately 800 academics in total in the group, percussion, orchestra, color maintenance and choral systems distributed from the fifth year to seniors, through Sunnyside Intermediate, Tecumseh Junior High and Lafayette Jeff.
Unlike the core categories, which are smaller, Paulson stated that its categories can accommodate up to 75 academics and that he had to create many new precautions to ensure some social remoteness and protection at the beginning of school.
Once the year begins, Paulson plans to divide elegance between two classrooms, so that there are no more than 30 or 35 students in the classroom, and creates about 6 to 10 feet of area of elegance among students.
“I think at the end of the day, the most vital thing for us is that young people have an education, still have the opportunity to play music and bring joy to their lives in this way,” Paulson said. “We will do this as we are allowed to do.”
The LSC still plans to reopen the categories in person, and the first day back to school on August 20. Return for categories in person.
With Governor Eric Holcomb’s mask mandate, staff and students in grades 3 through 12 will have to wear a mask at school. According to the amended mandate, students can remove the mask from the classroom when they can keep at least 3 feet away socially and look in the same direction. Teachers deserve to wear a mask unless they can maintain a social distance of six feet from students.
Even with the cancellation of the Indiana State School Music Association’s live music band contest in July, Academics at The Lafayette Jeff Group were still in the high school practice chart Tuesday afternoon, learning the basics of walking for a contest that would take place this year. .
The loss of a season of music bands hit the Jeff Marching Bronchos, who won their first year of the state championship.
“There is inner pride and they (students) know what the norm is,” said Jeff Parthun, the organization’s deputy director. “Even though there is no festival this year, their festival has been with themselves, which I think is a smart thing to do.”
Parthun, who also oversaw the return of Tecumseh academics for more than two weeks, said that the return of the group’s practice required a partnership between all involved: administrators, teachers, parents and academics.
The return of the gangs and the return of the entire school district is based on epidemic prevention. The LSC reopening plan states that if a school user test positives, the scenario will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Several schools that have returned to Indiana have already noticed positive cases of academics and teachers, and a construction, Elwood Junior Senior High School, closed for virtual learning just two days after rebooting.
“For us, it’s positive,” Parthun said. “It’s not scary. Some days we wondered how we were going to do that, but once we understood what was appropriate and what he painted for us, a formula was put in place. There will be a life after COVID-19 – in fact it will be different, but we make sure that (students) can make that transition and not lose too much.”
Emily DeLetter is a journalist for the Journal and Courier. Contact her at (765) 201-8515 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter on @EmilyDeLetter.