What’s happened recently - back to School
Highland High School has officially started in-person schooling. Although students were given an option to come to school or stay at home to continue online learning, more than half of the student body chose to return to school. The first day back to in-person teaching was Monday, September 28.
All high school students have been doing online learning since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students who returned to school must wear masks throughout the duration of the school day, as well as follow new rules and procedures that enforce social distancing.
Hybrid online and in-person learning will continue for the foreseeable future as long as students and staff remain safe.
What’s coming up - homecoming events
It’s Homecoming season at Highland High School, and the Trojans are making the most of it. Throughout the week of September 28, students showed their school pride during spirit week. Each day students were encouraged to dress up in a certain theme, which included pajama day, Disney day, pink day, Hawaiian day, and blue/gold day. Following spirit week, the official homecoming events take place on Friday and Saturday.
The varsity homecoming football game will be on Friday, October 2 at 7 p.m. Highland High School will be facing off against Lowell High School. Due to safety precautions that must be implemented, there will not be a homecoming dance. Instead, Highland High School will be having a movie night at the softball field. Students will be able to enjoy a socially-distanced night watching the movie Grease. The movie night will take place on Saturday, October 3, at 7 p.m. at the high school softball field. Students should bring a blanket to sit on. Only Highland High School students will be able to attend, and masks are required. Concessions will also be sold for those who attend.
Although there will be no dance or formal, Highland students were still able to nominate candidates for Homecoming King and Queen, keeping some of the normal homecoming traditions alive.
Student profile - Aly Wilson
It’s Alina “Aly” Wilson’s senior year and even during these strange times, she’s making the most of it. As a member of Highland’s cross country team and girls soccer team, Aly has learned how to manage her time between academics and her two sports.
“Both are like one big sport to me as I spend half my time at cross country and the other half at soccer,” said Wilson. “If I have a game and a meet on the same day, I’ll go to my meet in the morning and then my game right after.”
Being in both sports make for some long days, so staying motivated is key.
“Adrenaline is really what gets me through a lot of it.” said Wilson.
Being in two sports also means Aly has double the support systems.
“In cross country everybody pushes each other to be their best and get new PR’s (personal records) for every race, while in soccer we work together to connect as much as possible during our games to win against every team we face,” she said. “During our new prairie meet, which is a pretty challenging course, I ran a new PR.”
During her senior season, Aly has worked to achieve some personal goals of her own. Although she has already reached some goals so far, she still has more in mind for cross country.
“I want to make it to semi-state again or possibly state.”
While balancing her academics and athletics, Wilson was also nominated to be a member of Highland High School’s homecoming court, and eventually was voted as the 2020 homecoming queen.
“I was surprised and happy that people even considered me. I’m just glad that with everything going on that we still have this,” she said.
Even though this year has been unusual, Aly Wilson has still managed to keep herself focused and achieve her goals.