The long, strange trip that comprised the 2020-21 school year is rapidly coming to a close across the Ohio Valley and beyond.
Few imagined how this year could have gone, beginning the year amidst the heat and confusion of the pandemic. But soon there will be a collective declaration of “we made it.”
St. John Central Academy, in order to celebrate the coming final days of classes and reward its students for their diligence and patience and hard work throughout the year, is holding a Field Day on Friday.
In short, it’s a day of recreation intermixed with education which allows the students to kick back and enjoy the day without stressing over the rigors of class work.
“We had special shirts made for each student to commemorate the day,” said Annie Dimmick with the St. John Central Academy PTO, which is sponsoring the Field Day activities. “In addition to inflatables, a dunk tank, and a mechanical bull, we will also have water balloon tosses, tie dye shirt-making, corn- hole, and a Just Dance game.
“There will also be individual class games as well as food and treats.”
Dimmick also noted that because of St. John priding itself on its advanced curriculum that’s also fun, there will be educational activities as well, including dissections and dental hygiene experiments.
The academy’s renowned science instructors Mr. Vitlip and Dr. Ball will see to those activities.
A field day was originally planned for last year, but as with all things, the pandemic got in the way and put a hold on those plans.
“We knew this year we wanted to do something fun for the students,” Dimmick said. “They’ve had an incredibly difficult past year, and we know at SJCA that in order to educate the whole child, you have to allow for recreation.
“While our teachers do a fantastic job of keeping the kids engaged and challenged, we wanted to give them something extra to look forward to. So, a few months ago, the PTO formed a separate committee of parents and teachers. We started meeting weekly to plan the entire event.”
A Team Effort
While Field Day is primarily a PTO sponsored event, the SJCA Boosters Organization and other parents in the school assisted in generating funding. Dimmick wanted to thank the Bellaire Dairy Queen for providing free ice cream coupons, as well as Wendy’s for free frosty cards.
That’s one feature of St. John Central that’s been prevalent throughout the pandemic and even before since the academy’s inception and involvement.
“This has been the most active and financially successful year our PTO has had,” Dimmick said. “We were able to spend thousands on the school and our students, yet still raise more than enough to carry over into next year. We have such a great group of parents and teachers.
“I simply cannot say enough wonderful things about them.”
While the PTO already provided a number of exciting events during this school year, Dimmick noted more is in store for 2021-22.
There are some major plans in the works, but as nothing is finalized yet, she didn’t want to get into specifics, but noted that the group is “really excited for what we will be able to do for our students and teachers next year.”
