More than a month into the new school year, leadership already has planned new and exciting events during quarantine.

From virtual rallies to a unique twist on the homecoming parade, students in Cal High’s leadership program are putting their collective brains together to come up with fun and creative ways to keep students connected while away from campus during remote learning.

With one of the biggest social events of the year in homecoming just around the corner, leadership is working on a virtual that is similar to last year’s video, with some added improvements, ASB president Alicia Loney said. Along with the virtual rally, leadership is planning different ways to include other aspects of homecoming week, such as the annual parade through the school’s surrounding neighborhood.

“We are trying to work with admin on a ‘backward parade’ for homecoming week so we can be safe but still get some sort of community bonding going for us,” Loney said. “The backwards parade would basically be the students and people in the parade walking and the observers would be in their car while following a parade route.”

In addition to the parade, leadership has new ideas to execute the school’s homecoming dance in a safe way.

“We are entertaining the thought of doing a walk-through on campus, where students would sign up to attend in small groups,” leadership adviser Ross Dautel said. “We would have a variety of different events and engaging opportunities like food giveaways, a DJ, and different games.”   

Along with ideas for homecoming activities, leadership has plans to still feature an athlete of the month even though fall sports have been postponed until at least December. Students will be sent a Google form to nominate athletes they think should be honored. 

“We are looking for returning fall athletes and those who win are going to get shirts,” sophomore class president Lili Loney said

Though it is a little difficult staying unified during this time, leadership has a plan to keep students connected and up to date. 

“Especially with times like this, with everybody not being able to go to school, a big part of our plan has been reaching out to everybody online through our social media accounts,” junior class president Riley Hughes said.

In the past weeks, Instagram (@calhighgrizzlies) posts have informed students about spirit days, fundraisers, and club updates, including the virtual Club Faire on Sept. 23. Leadership also posted questionnaires for students who are confused about anything about this semester.

In addition to social media unity, making a new appearance to Cal this year is the Grizzly Pride Program.

“We are asking the students to give their phone numbers, their addresses, and their birthdays as a way for us to keep in communication with them,” Dautel said. “The overarching goal of the Grizzly Pride Program is to run weekly or every other week spirit competitions.”

Including the Grizzly Pride Program, leadership has lots of goals this year even with school away from campus.

“The overarching leadership goal is to build a stronger community during these times and to make people feel inclusive and…as if they’re getting information as if they were still in school,” senior class president Amanda Le said. “Especially for our senior class, we would like to make the most for our final year at Cal.”