South’s Student Council hopes they can continue to give students a memorable year that follows safety guidelines despite many students not being able to participate in sports or clubs because of Covid-19.

Senior Danny Hood, student body president, is hoping that action by the Student Council will bring students together. Like many students, Hood said he has been feeling the stress and disconnect that has been brought on by quarantine and e-learning.

“We’re just trying to recreate this fall semester in a way where students don’t think that the only thing they’re doing is Zooming,” Hood said.  “We don’t want students to think that they’re not a GBS student anymore.”

Mark Maranto, assistant principal for student activities, assisted Student Council in planning a Fall Festival that will take place from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3, the weekend where students would have normally had homecoming.

“We’ve had to find new ways to keep going and engage our student body,” Maranto said.

The festival will include three drive-in movie nights, where various Halloween themed movies will be played. Seniors watched Knives Out on Sept. 29; Juniors watched Halloweentown on Oct. 1; Freshman and Sophomores watched Ghostbusters on Oct. 2. The festival will conclude with a reverse parade on Saturday, Oct. 3,  from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Viewers will drive by the four stationary floats, one for each class.

“I think it’ll be a very successful event and I think students are gonna want to go,” Hood said. “It will give them something to look forward to in such a time of stress.”

The Student Council is hoping that seniors will enjoy their dedicated day and have fun, because so far this year they have lacked the so-called “senior experience” Maranto said.

“We’re really happy to see how well students have adhered to these guidelines so my hope is that we will continue to bring students into the building in a safe way until we can all be back together,” Maranto said.