Photo by Gonzalo Castillo/The Choate News
With the overarching goal of helping students both on and off-campus destress and regain some sense of normalcy, Director of Student Activities Ms. Alexa Long saw an opportunity in Super Bowl LV, which was played between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, February 7.
In past years, students congregated in the Student Activities Center (SAC) to watch the Super Bowl, which usually takes place during a long weekend. Amid the pandemic and on-campus quarantine, Ms. Long and the Student Activities Office made preparations for every virtual and in-person student to enjoy the Super Bowl just as much this year.
Games such as football-themed emoji Pictionary, bingo, and trivia quizzes were made available on the student portal. Students could submit evidence of the completed activities by 6:00 p.m. on Sunday for a chance to join a raffle and win prizes from the Choate Store. For students on campus, SAGE Dining Services collaborated with the SAC to provide wings and vegetarian game-day-themed food to every dorm.
Some students thought that the football-themed activities were a great opportunity to bring dorms closer together. Nick Maddon ’21, a prefect in Tenney House, said, “I loved seeing the cohesion between different forms, and everybody really got along. I thought the activities were a great opportunity for everybody to reintroduce themselves, and it really built a sense of dorm community and camaraderie that I have yet to see in Tenney.”
Some students watched the event more for the halftime show than the game itself. Others, still, looked forward to the commercials. This year, many also eagerly anticipated a poem recitation by Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old poet who performed at President Joseph Biden’s inauguration ceremony last month.
In the end, Ms. Long’s biggest hope for the SAC’s Super Bowl events was that they would strengthen the bonds between students even in these challenging times. For many students, “there’s more to the Super Bowl than just the game,” said Ms. Long.
