The Pride Post
Works from Journalism Class
A note from Mr. Wagner
This first publication is a result of unit one, which focused on the basics of journalism and straight-news articles. Students were tasked to write a news article that is relevant to the high school and timely. Students worked at replicating the organization, style, and focus of newswriting. Eliminating bias and remaining factual was a key focus of instruction, as well.
As our first foray into news writing, we admit that errors may exist and that our articles may feature imperfections. Thanks for understanding and appreciating our efforts!
-Mr. Wagner
1K For Kendal Moxey
Samantha Wilhoit 2/18/2022
Sports history was made at Queen Anne's County Highschool on February 9th, 2022 at a game against St. Michaels when Senior Kendal Moxey reached 1,000 points in her 3 years on the Lady Lions basketball team. She joins only 2 other female players to reach this goal at Queen Annes, and she is the only one to do so in just 3 years.
Moxey started her basketball career at the age of 6, and has grown to love the sport more and more each year she has played. In an interview Kendal stated, “Pretty much my whole life is basketball, there is school and other sports but my main focus has always been basketball.” When I asked about Kendal’s experience of reaching 1,000 points she said, “It was honestly crazy; I remember sitting in the gym in 7th grade and I told my Mom ‘My name is going to hang on that wall’ and I did it.” Kendal also gives a lot of credit to her team and their hard work and determination this season. She states, “I would not have gotten my one thousand without them because a lot of my points came off of getting passed the ball and assists.” Kendal now holds the record for most points at Queen Anne's County for the Lady Lions, and even more shocking - she has done it in 3 years.
I spoke to some of Moxey`s teammates in regards to her record breaking season. Senior Harley Wilis described Kendal as a leader when she said, “We all look up to Kendal and we are so proud of the season she has had and how far she has come.” I also spoke to Emily Gunther who has been playing basketball with Kendal for 10 years. Gunther said, “She has the skills and the talent but also the leadership. We have a lot of young girls on our team and she helps guide them, as well as everyone else on the team.” I also asked how Kendal serves as a leader for this team and she stated, “She brings the energy necessary to bring everyone together and she does everything she can to make sure we all keep our heads up in the game.”
After their win against Stephen Decatur on February 22nd, the Lady Lions won the Bayside Championship, but they are far from done. The Lady Lions have outscored their opponents 1,222 - 539 this season and have only lost one game this year. When asked about a state championship this year, Kendal stated, “I think we can do it if we all just play together and do our thing because we are the best team in the North.”
Moxey has not yet made set plans for college basketball, but she has spoken to a college in California that has interest in her, and she has also considered Chesapeake College and then transferring. No matter where she goes, Kendal is confident basketball will be in her future as she continues her athletic career.
The Musical’s fight against the snow days
The snow days in January have taking a toll on the musical cast of QA
By: Jessica Brown Feb/22/2022
QA’s theater department is putting together a musical based on James and the Giant Peach, but the large amount of snow days we have received in January has caused the cast members to miss rehearsal days. The cast is dealing with the lost time by putting in more hours for rehearsals.
The first week of rehearsals were supposed to start January/3/2022 but due to the snow days the cast completely lost that first week. January/10/2022 was the first day of rehearsal these students were actually able to get together. Miss. Murphy, the Theater teacher and director of the musical, had the rehearsal hours for the school week at these times, 2:30pm to 4:45pm. But currently the musical is two weeks out meaning the musical rehearsals are getting longer, the times through the week are 2:30pm to 6:00pm. The rest of the rehearsals are full cast. A week out the cast will start new rehearsals time, 2:30 to 8:00pm, in order to be completely ready for the first opening show on Mar 4, 2022 starting at 7:00pm.
Miss. Murphy spoke highly of her students and how well they are doing under the pressure of the time crunch they are in, “All the kids are hard working, putting in the hours and work, everyone is pulling their weight….Everyone is coming together and using time wisely.”
Even with the stress of the time loss the cast is still able to have fun and be uplifting during long rehearls. Murphy spoke of what had happened in one of the rehearsals, “One cast member was shy about having a song by themselves and the rest of the cast had started to sing and dance and use their phone flashlights all in order to help this cast member feel more comfortable.” The theater department is a very close group of people to support one another when they need each other.
Some of the cast members gave insight on how the cast is feeling under the time lost, the overall feeling is a little stressed but working over time to pull the show together. Two cast members, Elise Forstell and Finn Ricketts are both seniors this year who have been in QA musicals since 2018-2019 their freshman year. They are able to give a comparison to the past years of musicals and they had said, “Things are going good being compared to past years, although we have never lost this much time but are very quickly making up for it.”
The QA musical has two casts that put on the show, Gold and Green. The Gold cast has the following lead cast members: Emme Dumont, Riley Sutherland, Sophie Mohen, John Crook, Sara Marsiglia, Mads Blouch, Kaeli Olin, Andrea Anderson and Anna Lackey. Green cast leads are: Finn Ricketts, Grey Reynolds, Sophie Mohen, Jackson Lenzi, Sara Marsiglia, Mads Blouch, Jack Shagen, Anne Marie Thomas and Annabel Strootman. Both Green and Gold have the following ensemble cast: Grace Luongo, Hayden Malecki, Sam Holdgreve, Savannah Fritzsche and Elise Forstell.
Student Opinions on Spotify’s Controversy Surrounding Joe Rogan
Students Provide their Perspective on this Topic
Abby Bozarth 2/18/22
Joe Rogan, a popular podcast host on spotify, receives major backlash for giving false information surrounding Covid-19 vaccines during a recent episode from January. There are also other concerns including racial slurs and derogatory language during a viral episode from 2017. Many celebrities and other influencers shared their opinion by boycotting the platform and revoking their music from the app. Queen Anne's County High School students shared their insight on this topic by participating in a quick survey.
Major celebrities including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell expressed their opinion concerning the issue. Per Rolling Stone, Young expressed his opinion by demanding his music be removed from the app and stating “I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” the musician wrote in a letter to his management, “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.” Joni Mitchell also added: "irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
Starting off, Twelve students participated in the survey; out of the twelve, seven students use Spotify as their go-to music listening platform. Other students typically listened to Apple Music, Soundcloud or Pandora. When asked whether students were previously aware of the controversy, three were aware, who also listened to Joe Rogan.
The second question asked was how students would feel if Spotify was boycotted then canceled. Many students who relied on the platform exclaimed they “would be upset because I use it everyday.” Students who don’t primarily listen to their music on Spotify felt this would be a bad occurrence since many people are active Spotify users.
The third question asked was what students think Spotify should do about the situation. Most students said that Spotify should take Rogan off the platform while the remaining students said to let it be or “let it blow over.” Other responses said that Spotify should apologize for Rogan or make Rogan apologize himself. There were many mixed opinions on what Spotify should do about the situation but the most prevalent was to take Rogan off the platform.
The final question students were asked was “what is your opinion on the controversy surrounding Spotify?” There were a wide range of opinions but the most prevalent was Rogan was speaking his opinion, which “he had the right to do because of the 1st amendment.” Another common response was that there were better things to focus on. The rest of the opinions were neutral based. There was one opinion that felt Rogan was irresponsible for the things said.
The majority of Queen Anne's County High School students listen to their music using Spotify or have previously, which emphasizes the prevalence of Spotify in the life of today’s High School Students. Many would be upset if Spotify were canceled; one can conclude that if Spotify were canceled, this could affect the lives of many teenagers.
Cyberware attacks shutting down schools across U.S.
November 24, 2020 we saw schools across Baltimore County fall victim to a criminal attack involving ransomware. The anonymous group behind the attack threatened to publish/block sensitive data if their demands were not met. Two days later on the 26th, the county paid the hackers their demands in order to gain control over their school again.
Gaining momentum in 2016, cyberattacks on U.S. schools have been on a rise. Schools are being exploited by these hackers for profit or other demands. The rise of these attacks can be attributed to the current situation of public schools across the country becoming more and more virtual dependent.
It is important for individuals in the education field to be informed on general knowledge about these attacks. One of the main focuses of this should be common methods of these attacks. When asking Robert Curry, an IT Tech, what his thoughts were he responds with “Malware is, and for the foreseeable future will be the #1 cause of software breaches as opposed to an actual cyberattack on security, the issue usually comes from inside.”
Another point to think of is that while we can develop ways to protect ourselves against malware, we have to remember that hacking can develop in the same way. When asking software security engineer Jim H. he makes the following comparison about cyber attacks, “it is similar to how a house was built in 2000 vs. a house built in 2022, the overall process is the same but there are innovations to make the process easier.”
As schools continue to move forward with virtualization, we have to wonder what makes a school vulnerable? Referring back to the interview with Jim H, he also expresses his thoughts about this question in the following comment. “With experience in the education field, I can say for certain it's mostly students and teachers that can and will cause the majority of software risk/breaches. Teachers are generally trusted with passwords and access codes that will be often written down and stuck to a monitor or given out to students they think they can trust. There's an interesting relationship between performance and trust where you'd rather have High Trust Low Performance than High-Performance Low Trust because no matter how secure a door may seem if you give someone from the outside the code it's futile”. One example he presents are students working around the software systems to unblock various games and sites, which ends up exposing vulnerabilities in the system.
In his opinion, he believes that schools should already have a general idea on where they need to start putting their focus as needs vary from school to school. He refers to hacking and compromises in security as cat and mouse games, claiming the system will never be full-proof. When asked if we could see a potential rise as hackers continue to find success he said “The only time you'll ever really see a rise in cyber-attacks is if there are new vulnerabilities found to a product/software a company is using.”
Overall, cyber security is constantly improving. And in order to keep up with the technology, we need to stay informed and aware of its threats. Hackers can get information such as social security numbers, credit card information, medical records, addresses, and more. Now we just ask ourselves, “how is our school prepared against this?”.
Second Semester Senior Events & Dates
SENIORS! The clock is ticking… Here is what YOU need to know!
Paige Falstad February 23rd, 2022
As the spring semester approaches quickly, students are eager to know what is ahead. Seniors are especially excited for their upcoming graduation. As the second semester is already starting to fly by, many spring events are on the horizon. The first event seniors have to look forward to is prom! Prom will be held April 30th from 7-9pm and there will be more details to come. Next, is cap and gown distribution on May 11th. This will take place during all three lunch shifts. If a student is not in the building during lunch or is absent that day, they will be able to pick up their cap and gown in guidance at their convenience. On May 24th, senior awards will be held. This tends to be a lengthy event & the entire class attends. This is when students are awarded with their local scholarships. Senior guidance counselor, Mrs. Betts wants to remind seniors to, “Check Naviance weekly for new scholarship opportunities”. May 31st, the day before graduation, is when graduation practice will occur. Students will be outside in the stadium (weather permitting), preparing for the big day. And finally, the big graduation ceremony will be held on June 1st, in the stadium. As of now, it is undecided whether or not masks will be required. Ticket count per-student is also undetermined but should be shared soon. In past years, students get a set number of tickets each and if some students absolutely need more, they can check with guidance for a redistribution of unused tickets. This will be first come first serve. However, most of the student body tends to only receive a set amount of tickets.
In an interview with senior Piper Evans, she said that she is most looking forward to prom and graduation. As a state champion lacrosse player, she is also really excited for her next and final high school lacrosse season. When asked what she wanted to see at graduation, Piper said, “I want to see everyone get the chance to walk across the stage. I would like to see everyone experience the joy of graduating high school and starting a new chapter.” She says that she is looking forward to moving on but she will miss some parts of high school. Piper will be attending Salisbury University this fall and says that she feels prepared for college for the most part. She is really looking forward to starting fresh and gaining new experiences as a college athlete. Though she is ready to graduate, she also says that she will miss high school a lot because covid took so much from the senior class. Piper said the three things she is sad to let go of are sports, friendships, and the social aspect of high school.
We are saying goodbye to free school lunches, after high success.
By Hannah Mae Harrison February 23, 2022
Free school lunches have been said to be very successful over the past year for Queen Anne's County schools and have provided many opportunities for students and parents. Due to the receding covid cases free lunch is most likely ending by the end of the 2021-2022 school year.
Queen Anne's County’s School Chief operating officer, Mr. Pinder stated that from November 2021, QACPS provided 42,885 breakfasts and 67,885 lunches. He said, “That would be 2,257 breakfasts served per day and 3,572 lunches served per day.” With that being said, Mr. Pinder also mentioned, “for a student population of about 7,500, almost half of the student body is taking part in the free lunch program.” During the peake of the pandemic free school lunches were offered throughout school by federal funds from government farms. Parents were able to fill out meal benefits forms based on the income and household sizes to determine if they are eligible. Also, families were given a weak supply of groceries when needed to support their children and households.
Many parents were laid off because of the pandemic and couldn't support their family, so these opportunities were never taken for granted. Mr. Pinder stated the school and the government are analyzing “who really needed it” and what students would benefit from this. From this they also saw how many people struggle with being able to afford food. Over this time children who weren’t able to afford usual school options and had developed food insecurities are now eating well at school. Many students have loved this opportunity and have mentioned wanting it to last. There has been very positive feedback regarding the student body. One student said, “school lunch became an easier option and saved me the time and stress from making lunch at home.” Another saying, “I probably would not eat lunch if this were not an option, it saves a lot of time.” Pre-covid there were forms a parent or guardian could fill out to qualify for free or reduced lunches. If the form is incomplete the school is unable to approve their application. However, if a child is certified as homeless or enrolled in Head Start, Even Start, is a migrant, a part of foster care etc.. and receive Food Supplement Program (FSP) and/or Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) benefits are eligible for free/ reduced meals without a form needed. Based on the numbers, Free School Lunches have been a huge success over the past year. It has helped many families in need and has given hope and confidence to many students. Although Free School Lunch is ending for most students, you can still be eligible for free or reduced lunch and government assistance as well as help from the school.
The Recent Increase in Book Bans Across the USA
By: Cecelia Schweitzer February 23, 2022
There has been a recent increase in the push to ban books nationwide, especially those dealing with current social issues. This trend started to pick up in 2020, and is still spreading and gaining momentum.
The definition of book banning is removing books from the shelves of schools and libraries in order to censor their content and themes. When books are banned, they can either be limited to a certain grade level, become an “optional” reading choice, require parent permission, or be specifically a library book versus teaching experience. While this is a relatively new discussion, “Book banning has been around since libraries opened” says Ms. Taylor, Queen Anne’s County High School’s Media Specialist. Throughout time, different kinds of books have been challenged, restricted, and banned depending on what issues are affecting society at the time. Common themes throughout all of these books include political bias, sexual content, violence, religious subject matter, gender and sexual identity, and racial topics.
More recently, there has been an uptake in challenges against books in different states. One notable example is occurring in Texas school districts. Within the last year, there have been more book challenges than the last twenty years combined. A list of 850 books has been gathered by Representative Matt Krause and requested to be investigated by Texas Schools, including “All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli. These books had contents of racism, violence, and sexual identity, which likely was the cause of their challenges.
Some people argue that banning books allows schools to prevent non age-appropriate books from circulating through the students. However, some fear it's been taken too far and believe that censorship omits important information that would allow students to form their own opinions. Experts in this field, such as Ms. Geoffroy, Queen Anne’s County High School’s Reading Specialist, tend to see both sides of this issue, explaining how “We like to say ‘you should not censor anything’ but we also have to consider ages and the experiences of students.”
Those who are opponents of book banning may claim that media censorship is a violation of freedom of speech. Censorship has become politicized, say some critics, and rather than focusing on the needs of the students, it centers around political bias. Some feel that these banned novels could instead be used to educate students on the world around them. “Kids are having these discussions on race, on violence, on sexualities anyway. By giving them these books, we are giving them a safe space to learn” says Ms. Geoffroy.
Through all of the controversy over media censorship, it affects educators differently. Ms. Taylor says that her job “is to support the students and make sure what they need is on the shelves.” She also makes sure that politics does not interfere with her job. However, sometimes politics are unavoidable. “We see some of the attitudes in our community and it is scary to have these conversations with kids that could jeopardize our careers,” says Ms. Geoffroy. When students and teachers have these conversations, they have all come from different backgrounds, making it hard to speak about issues that they have no experience with. Ultimately, book banning is becoming more prominent in society and is beginning to reach areas such as our own Queen Annes County.
Everything You Need to Know About a 2-Week Shutdown
Jackson Lenzi February 21, 2022
As numbers of cases for Covid-19 continue to fluctuate only to lower down at a consistent rate and new variants continue to pop up, many are speculating that it will come to a point where Queen Anne’s County Public Schools will have to establish another 2-week shutdown in order to flatten the curve. This has aroused questions and concerns about the effects of said shutdown. What plans are in place? How is virtual learning going to work? How am I going to keep good grades?
Many of you are already getting flashbacks to our first shutdown that started back in March of 2020 and didn’t end until summer of 2021. But it seems that things could be much better in the event of another shutdown. The last one was an unprecedented event that no one could have prepared for or thought of happening. Busy streets going quiet, stores running out of toilet paper, it was something out of an apocalypse movie. But now we’re much more familiar with how things operate during quarantine. And even though Covid numbers are constantly changing, vaccines are making an impact. According to USAFacts, around 84% of Marylanders have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and around 74% are fully vaccinated. Back in December, the White House released a press briefing announcing new actions to prevent another shutdown including Booster for adults, free at-home testing, and stronger public health protocols. With these new actions and changes in cases, some students feel that another shutdown is long gone. In a small group survey, 44% of students said they didn’t believe there would be another shutdown.
When thinking of the possibility of another shutdown, many worry about the effects it can have on them personally from having bad grades to poor mental health. In an interview with Assistant Principal Marketto, he stated that mental health was a big takeaway from the first quarantine. Many students experienced anxiety and had problems with masks and a lack of social interaction, along with some getting bad grades and getting held back. According to the Lancet medical journal, some psychological impacts of quarantine include Acute Stress Disorder, Poor Concentration and Indecisiveness, Deteriorating Work Performance, Detachment from Others, and Insomnia. In the student survey, 56% said they had medium to low being educationally, and that same percentage for mental and emotional being. One survey participant said, “I can't focus without the reinforcement the school environment provides.”
Quarantine and virtual learning also impacted teachers, according to Marketto, as many had to take care of their own kids at home whilst teaching online and made it difficult to teach without that in-person connection.
In the wake of pandemics and quarantine and all the stresses that come with them, many wonder how do you stay afloat both educationally and mentally during this bizzare time. In an article by Lesley University, some tips for students when in quarantine are to develop a routine, focus on organization, break down work, and allow your body to relax. An important thing to remember is even though we call it Social Distancing, it’s more the less a physical distancing as it’s crucial for many to stay in contact and maintain relationships. Finally, a key part to maintaining academic success is to make sure you’re putting in the work, as Marketto stated, “The kids that fail are the ones that don’t do anything.
What’s going on with masks?
The science supports that face masks are saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic, and yet the debate trundles on.
BY: DARBY SKINNER DATE: FEB. 22, 2022
At the start of the pandemic, much of the Western world followed a similar playbook for tackling Covid-19.
Spikes in transmission were met with lockdowns; International travel was heavily restricted; and though domestic constraints frequently proved controversial, hygiene measures such as social distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing were strongly encouraged - if not legally mandated.
But those days are behind us. Pandemic management now differs widely from country to country - with the facemask being just one example of the world’s increasingly fractured approach to Covid-19.
The science behind masks is fairly clear, and has only become more robust over the course of the pandemic. Studies have shown that masks significantly reduce the chances of transmission. Yet the debates still rage in multiple countries over their use, some regions have recently removed mandates that people wear them in crowded spaces.
“Masks remain a symbol of a divided society - between those who feel we have restricted too much and those who feel we have not intervened enough during the pandemic,” said Simon Williams.
The first days of the pandemic saw early hesitance over the use of face masks from governments and the World Health Organization, amid fears that a rush for masks would leave frontline workers without enough personal protective equipment. But as the world learned more about Covid-19, their use became commonplace by the middle of 2020.
Mask requirements are still updating as Covid-19 sticks around. As of February 11, 2022. The Maryland State Board of Education provided three “off-ramps” to remove the mask mandate. Each Maryland county school is required to reach one of the following “off-ramps” in order to give people the choice of wearing a mask in the school building.
If at least 80 percent of the county population in the county where the schools are located is fully vaccinated.
The local superintendent may lift the mask requirement for school buildings after a principal or designated school official verifies that 80 percent of the school staff and students in the school facility have been fully vaccinated.
The local superintendent may lift the mask requirement in schools if the county has sustained 14 consecutive days of moderate to low transmission rate of Covid-19 cases, as reported by the CDC.
NOTE: QACHS is still at a substantial rate.
There are many concerns about wearing masks while playing sports inside and the effects. Needless to say, there is nothing to worry about. While playing, the team does not have to wear a mask or any type of face covering, although while they are on the “bench” they are supposed to put their mask back on. Spectators are required to wear a face mask, or any type of face covering while watching any indoor games.
The CDC also recently changed the quarantine periods from 2 weeks to 5 days. People with Covid-19 should isolate for 5 days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving, follow that by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter. Additionally, CDC updated the recommended quarantine period for anyone in the general public who is exposed to Covid-19. For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose and not yet boosted, the CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Our athletic director Mr.Miller supported this when he said, “I think it is a positive change that quarantine has changed from 14 days to 5 days.”
Mental health in Seniors, class of 2022
High school seniors have gotten the worst of it. Of COVID-19. Losing two years of their learning, education, social interactions, and more. Stress, depression, and anxiety are part of mental health and how the class of 2022 handles them. Mental health has negatively impacted everyone. From learning virtually vs in person, and to social interactions.
Mrs. Bett’s the current guidance counselor of the senior class, has stated that “grief, anxiety and depression of the students have experienced during the pandemic is welling over into the classrooms and hallways.” There have been increases of more anxiety and depression, virtual vs. in person, wearing of masks, distancing guidelines, even some students have transitioned to homeschool because of the pandemic.
Closures and canceled extracurricular activities also meant a lack of student’s support systems. Students who already struggled with mental health were forced to telehealth. Mental health providers can barely keep up with the new referrals-longer wait times for intakes and appointments.
The 2022 class has dropped, students transitioned to home school to pursue their GED. “High flier students” have stayed at the top while most shifted. Grades and GPA’s suffered, from the overall learning curve. Many of the students who dropped out needed many recovery credits. The class of 2022 had close to 300 students, present day there are now 264 students. It’s important to note, some of these students have also switched schools also.
Moving onto the seniors' perspectives, current athletes Kendal Moxey, Ella Pinder, Rowan Maltby, and Samantha Wilhoit have all stated that COVID-19 has affected their sports seasons. From spring of 2020 until present day. As a student athlete it was “hard” for them to gain the confidence due to the lack of playing, from seasons getting cut short to not being motivated.
Most of the students prefer online learning because of the in person human interactions and learning abilities, rather than being online. Being online was hard to keep up with. Between grades dropping and trying to be motivated.
With graduation just around the corner for the class of 2022, students and teachers are more able to help students get more prepared for the future.
The Brand New Kent County Family YMCA Opens To The Public
Chestertown Maryland adds to the developing roster of the YMCA Of The Chesapeake
By Darell Hagerman February 15th 2022 at 9:00 AM
The grand opening of the Kent County Family YMCA occurred on January 10th 2022 and ever since then it has been booming. The community of Kent County and neighboring counties have definitely felt the impact of the new facility. With the funding of generous anonymous donations, the new YMCA in Chestertown Maryland continues to provide a clean and safe environment for people of all ages.
This brand new facility is a one membership for all type of wellness centers. The membership includes access to the 25 yard salt-treated, heated pool that features 6 individual swimming lanes as well as a slightly sloped natatorium. Located just off the pool deck lives the cedar, co-ed sauna that sits and stays at about 140 degrees and features steam rocks that can be used to increase the temperature further. Another membership benefit is access to the stay and play childwatch center. Children aged 6 weeks - 11 years old can enjoy, play and STEM activities throughout the week from 8-11 AM and 4-6 PM. Both wellness center sections are included, one including an assortment of Life Fitness cardio equipment and also pin loaded weight machines. The other includes a full free weight room and also an entrance to an elevated walking track that takes just 11 loops to make a mile. The track loops around 2 full size basketball courts, which also includes 6 pickleball courts. Access to an extensive list of group exercise classes including things like spin class and water aerobics. When signed up for a membership you are also signed up for a nationwide membership meaning that you have access to all YMCA Of The Chesapeake facilities and up to 2,700 facilities across the nation.
When asked about the new facility Darell M Hagerman, the Project Manager of the building said, ”This is going to be huge for the community, no matter who you are, or where you are, you can see just how good this is going to be.” Darell also mentioned that he will be moving next to Queen Anne's County to build a brand new YMCA there as well.
What's next for the Y?
The Kent County Family YMCA plans to continue to grow all of its programs and continue to serve the local community. This summer the YMCA will be hosting a summer long kids camp that will be available for kids to have a place to learn, grow, and thrive everyday. This camp will feature themes on a weekly basis that will keep the kids having fun. The Y also plans on launching recreational leagues such as indoor soccer, basketball, and pickleball. Surely much more is to come, this brand new facility offers a fresh start for the YMCA staff and they are extremely motivated and excited to serve their community.
The member goal going into the new YMCA was 2,500 active members. In just 5 short weeks, their membership goal was surpassed by an astonishing amount. When speaking to Erica Osterhout, the Executive Director of the Kent County Family YMCA. About the recent growth she said, “This promising influx of members is just the beginning, as a Y. We strive to connect every member to a program and/or experience that adds value to their mind, body, and spirit.”
Jessica Carey, the Membership Engagement And Program Director reflects on the Y mission, she shares, “The YMCA is a mission driven non profit organization. The Y puts Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy mind, body, and spirit for all. We are committed to youth development, healthy living, and fostering a sense of social responsibility. Our core values are caring, honesty, and respect, responsibility, and faith, and we use these to guide us in all that we do. We are passionate about building strong communities, strong families, and strong kids.”
An Evening of Enchantment
Faith Corder
Prom will be held on Saturday April 30, 2022 in the courtyard at Queen Anne’s County high school, it will go from 7pm to 9pm. This was organized by the Senior class advisors and SGA members. This prom's theme is an Evening of Enchantment which includes lots of lights, Candles and other beautiful decorations .
Many questions have been asked about covid regulations and whether or not students will be required to wear a mask. To answer these concerns, students as of right now will not be required to wear a mask, but should be aware of these regulations changing. As of now covid has not affected this prom as some may have thought it would but it does not mean it still could not happen.
As for decorations the SGA and Class Advisors have gone all out. With decorations like, Candles, Cantons, Light trees, curtain string lights, Luminary bags, a popcorn machine and lots of eucalyptus. There will also be a DJ for the music. For food there will be all pre-packaged food such as chips, crackers, soda, etc. Although if covid regulations are lifted there has been talk about possible chick fil a sandwiches or Subs.
While talking to senior class advisor Shana Corder, she says she wants “Everyone to have a good time and that it be very memorable for the senior class.”
When asking class advisor Kelsey Johnson what her expectations for prom are she said “ I expect prom to be a fun night for everyone to look forward to and enjoy getting to spend together. I expect students to enjoy the opportunity to all be together especially since that has been limited. I also expect the decorations to provide a fun mystical environment that will turn the courtyard into something special."
The class advisors said they will be planning for about 250 students to be attending prom. It was also very important to the class officers and class advisors that prom will be free for students. They did not want ticket prices to be a reason for students to miss out on their prom.
As prom approaches us they will be looking for the senior class/ parent volunteers to help with setting up and cleaning up after the prom, if this is something that interests you, you may contact Kelsey Johnson or Shana Corder to sign up.
As a senior after getting all the information and details about prom, I am very excited to attend this prom. The class officers and Advisors have put in so much time and effort for this prom to be a memorable night for the graduating class. I am also looking forward to seeing all the decorations and other fun things they have planned for us.