{"id":21891,"date":"2021-05-04T08:30:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T12:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/?post_type=education_blog&p=18647"},"modified":"2023-04-27T16:55:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T16:55:24","slug":"how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely","status":"publish","type":"education_blog","link":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/","title":{"rendered":"How An Annual Tradition Helped HSLA Scholars Stay Connected, Remotely"},"content":{"rendered":"

When members of SA HSLA\u2019s Class of 2024 \u2014 who graduated from SA last June \u2014 conceptualized, wrote, and produced the first-annual <\/span><\/i>Root Awakening<\/span> performance several years ago, they probably didn\u2019t realize just how much of a legacy they would leave behind. A vibrant and powerful celebration of diversity, cultural heritage, and scholar talent, the show \u2014 which is entirely run by students \u2014 took the school by storm from its inception. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Everyone talked about it for weeks after it was unveiled, and multiple SA alumni have returned to participate since then; the performance is frequently applauded as a top highlight of the SA high school experience. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

When this year\u2019s seniors Channel Mateo and Brenda Licona-Kumi, and junior Wuraola Adetola were selected to produce the SY20-21 performance<\/a>, they couldn\u2019t wait to get right to work upholding the tradition of excellence and excitement. Here, content curator Wuraola shares some of her memories from <\/span><\/i>Root Awakening<\/span>, and reflects on the highs and lows of running a schoolwide performance over Zoom<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Wuraola Adetola <\/b><\/p>\n

We thought <\/span>Root Awakening<\/span><\/i> wasn\u2019t going to happen during the pandemic. The show always brings out the best of our school community; we pack the auditorium and cheer and stomp for our friends, our alumni, and our teachers who express themselves artistically on the stage. How could we possibly replicate that feeling on our computers? At first, I was pretty discouraged by the thought. <\/span><\/p>\n

But our dance teacher, Ms. Aronowitz, and our dean, Ms. Ramos reminded us that <\/span>Root Awakening<\/span><\/i> is a school tradition, an important one that puts scholar self-expression and pride in our heritage at the center, and it would really mean a lot to everyone if we could continue it \u2014 even though everything would be different this year. Mrs. Aronowitz really played a huge role in helping the show come together. <\/span><\/p>\n

When Channel, Brenda, and I talked it over, we realized how much the show meant to us our virtual community. Even though our theater productions are always popular and excellent, <\/span>Root Awakening<\/span><\/i> still stands out because it is completely designed and run by students. It is a chance for us to speak up about our identities, celebrate our cultures, educate each other about our heritage \u2014 and just have fun moving, dancing, singing, and speaking together on stage. Even though this couldn\u2019t happen in person, we just had a feeling that we could still make a big impact on our virtual community.   <\/span><\/p>\n

We set to work. We encouraged and directed students to record themselves dancing or representing their culture however they saw fit. We pulled and edited videos from last year\u2019s performance to incorporate and build that feeling of continuity. We solicited our teachers to help spread the news of the show. The three of us had to step into unexpected leadership roles \u2014 and it was a team effort. Channel wrote the entire script; I collected, edited, and organized all the content; and Brenda did all the voiceovers and designed the flier.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t even know Channel and Brenda before we started working on the show, but the experience brought us close together. We learned each other’s thinking processes, and how to defeat the odds and push through in times of struggle. You want to showcase everyone\u2019s talent and culture, but there\u2019s a time limit, and you have to make sure nobody gets bored just watching on a screen \u2014 so it\u2019s difficult. Once we had everything in one place, though, it was great to see the result. We hoped this show would still inspire the school community, and bring everyone together the way it had for the three of us.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t easy, and a lot of people had doubts about this year\u2019s <\/span>Root Awakening<\/span><\/i> \u2014 including me! Given the pandemic, some students were surprised it was still happening, and others were reluctant to participate because it was yet another thing on Zoom. We had been planning since the summer, so it wasn\u2019t too stressful until a few weeks before the show when things started to feel more real. I was pretty nervous about how everyone would react! <\/span><\/p>\n

It was hard to bring everyone together and encourage them to get involved, but after the show a lot of people started reaching out to us saying how great it was. People said they enjoyed it, and some students asked how they could get involved for next year. This made me feel great because, in the end, I know that we helped continue this legacy.<\/p>\n

I think the pandemic took a toll on a lot of students. People couldn\u2019t see their friends, and students with talents couldn\u2019t dance or sing in person. The fact that we were able to have this show, and include so many students who wanted to show off their talent or culture \u2014 it was really important.<\/p>\n

This show gives students a voice. School is difficult; there\u2019s not always time to show off what makes you happy or proud. The show gave us a chance to do that. It was a break from school, stress, and the effects of the pandemic just to come back and feel like a school community again, even online.<\/p>\n

With this year\u2019s show done, we\u2019re already excited to start brainstorming how to make the next <\/span>Root Awakening<\/span><\/i> different, and how we can incorporate everyone\u2019s ideas. We\u2019re ready to take on the next challenge.  <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":18650,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[40],"tags":[20,21,446,327,421],"class_list":["post-21891","education_blog","type-education_blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-scholars","tag-high-school","tag-high-school-of-the-liberal-arts","tag-hsla","tag-performing-arts","tag-scholar-voices"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTraditions Helped Scholars Stay Connected | Success Academy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Success Academy's HSLA Annual Root Awakening performance helps scholars stay creative and connected - virtually.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Traditions Helped Scholars Stay Connected | Success Academy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Success Academy's HSLA Annual Root Awakening performance helps scholars stay creative and connected - virtually.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Success Academy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-27T16:55:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/146640878_439451737257050_6153870339776689377_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/\",\"name\":\"Traditions Helped Scholars Stay Connected | Success Academy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/146640878_439451737257050_6153870339776689377_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-04T12:30:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-27T16:55:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"Success Academy's HSLA Annual Root Awakening performance helps scholars stay creative and connected - virtually.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/146640878_439451737257050_6153870339776689377_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/146640878_439451737257050_6153870339776689377_n.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/\",\"name\":\"Success Academy\",\"description\":\"Public Charter Schools New York City\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Traditions Helped Scholars Stay Connected | Success Academy","description":"Success Academy's HSLA Annual Root Awakening performance helps scholars stay creative and connected - virtually.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Traditions Helped Scholars Stay Connected | Success Academy","og_description":"Success Academy's HSLA Annual Root Awakening performance helps scholars stay creative and connected - virtually.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/","og_site_name":"Success Academy","article_modified_time":"2023-04-27T16:55:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/146640878_439451737257050_6153870339776689377_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/","url":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/","name":"Traditions Helped Scholars Stay Connected | Success Academy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/146640878_439451737257050_6153870339776689377_n.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-04T12:30:52+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-27T16:55:24+00:00","description":"Success Academy's HSLA Annual Root Awakening performance helps scholars stay creative and connected - virtually.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/education-blog\/how-an-annual-tradition-helped-hsla-scholars-stay-connected-remotely\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/146640878_439451737257050_6153870339776689377_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/146640878_439451737257050_6153870339776689377_n.jpg","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/","name":"Success Academy","description":"Public Charter Schools New York City","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/education_blog\/21891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/education_blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/education_blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.successacademies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}