Cardinal Spellman HS students adjust to new normal, social distancing

Despite remote learning and social distancing, a high school in the Bronx is keeping its school spirit strong by turning to social media.

News 12 Staff

Apr 3, 2020, 8:49 PM

Updated 1,671 days ago

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Despite remote learning and social distancing, a high school in the Bronx is keeping its school spirit strong by turning to social media. 
A letter was sent out on March 13 announcing that Cardinal Spellman High School would be moving to remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic. That same day, it was decided that the school’s production of "Aida" would be postponed. 
“It was really sad because as a senior, you look forward to the end of your senior year -- doing all these events and activities that you had planned for all these months, all of your hard work paying off,” said student Olivia Barrios Johnson. 
Johnson was set to play the starring role in the postponed play. “I had written a poem on what would've been our opening night of the show and I was just inspired, so I wrote this little poem and I shared it with my castmates and then the director actually sent it to the administration of my school and it was just a nice way for me to express how I was feeling at the moment,” said Johnson. 
That poem is now featured on the high school’s Twitter. It is one of the ways the school is using social media to keep students connected during the coronavirus pandemic. 
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Principal Daniel O’Keefe says with all school activities postponed through at least April 30, he’s appealing to students to submit videos and stay in touch with their classmates virtually. 
They can also keep up by tuning into a weekly show on Youtube, produced by students. 
With prom scheduled for May and graduation in June, O’Keefe says that no matter what the students will take part in those traditions.