Christmas concert goes virtual

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot when it comes to day-to-day life, especially at the Wrangell School District. Some things remain the same, however, even if they look different.

Last Wednesday, Dec. 16, the district held its annual Christmas concert. The concert brought together students from Evergreen Elementary, Stikine Middle School, and Wrangell High School to perform songs and music for the holiday season. What was different this year was that the concert was not live, but instead hosted virtually on the district's YouTube channel.

Music Teacher Tasha Morse began the video by talking about how unique 2020 has been for both teachers and students. They have faced a variety of challenges this year, she said, from wearing specialized masks when playing music to operating in different "pods" of students to limit possible spread of COVID-19. Rather than bring everyone together for an in-person concert this year, Morse said, they decided on a virtual concert. This meant she got to dive into learning about video editing, which she said was a very educational experience for her.

"It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel that very few things in the year 2020 are," Morse said. "What we do hope you get from watching our video tonight is a sense of joy, a sense of students who are working hard to keep working on their craft, and overall just a good feeling for kicking off the holiday season. Thank you so much for taking some time out of your busy schedules to watch our video and to support the students here in our school. We sincerely appreciate it, and we really hope that you enjoy what we've put together."

The concert can be found on YouTube on the district's channel, "WPSD.us Streaming".