The Great Shakeout: COVID-19 edition
By Genevieve Nevius, Staff Writer
On Oct. 14, SMMUSD made an effort to recreate an event the administration knew the student body would surely miss with all of their hearts, The Great Shakeout.
Teachers and students alike were biting their nails preparing for this crucial event. A small issue called COVID-19 has prevented Samo from returning to campus which, surprisingly, is in relation to how well the United States government has handled the pandemic. While school has been closed, events extremely important to our community have been cancelled like morning announcements, passing periods and of course the Great Shakeout.
The Great Shakeout has always been a central and grounding affair at Samo and throughout the district. This magical experience is usually filled with hours in the pleasant sun, eating delicious scraps from the hot lunch bar and searching for friendly faces in a sea of unfamiliar people. Violet Varner (’23) expressed her deep regret in not being able to attend the sacred tradition in person this year.
“The Great Shakeout is usually my favorite part of the year so it sucked not being able to suffer—I mean celebrate in person this year,” Varner said.
Even though an in person option for The Great Shakeout is impossible, students got to enjoy a lovely one-minute instruction video. This video showed students the best way to drop, squat and roll from home. These fun exercises brought some much needed light into a usually dull second period. Isabella Sandoval (’21) was very grateful for the opportunity to learn more about earthquake preparedness.
“Before this year I thought when an earthquake happened we were supposed to hide. Now, because of the wonderful online instruction I learned that it’s better to stand on the table instead of underneath it,” Sandoval said.
While Samo is sorely missing old and totally relevant traditions such as The Great Shakeout, teachers have tried their best to recreate a sense of community which so many students are glad to be a part of. Hopefully, this time next year we will all be together again getting a nice tan sitting in the sun on the field or in the Greek.