As well as the year of pandemics, wildfires and crazy house prices, 2020 has also been the year of ‘phases’. First it was the phases of the pandemic (FYI technically we are still in phase 1), then it was the phases or reopening the State and now we are wrapping our heads around the Lake Tahoe Unified School District Phases.
We are now three days into the new school year and either you kid is now a zoom genius or you are still struggling to get your 5 year old to look at the screen (mine doesn't understand that his teacher can't still see him when he goes off for a wander around the room!). It is all very quiet here at the Club after the busyness of summer and there is a strong smell of bleach as the staff are deep cleaning each room and setting up tables and chairs for the start of the Fall Program next week.
The Club's mission is to empower every child to reach their full potential. We help them to achieve this goal through a myriad of different ways; helping them do their homework, providing a space in the art room to develop their creative side, offering opportunities such as our backpacking trip, or teaching them life skills through our Junior Volunteering and Teen Enterprise programs. We try to capture some of the ways we impact our members, and the community, in our annual impact report and it is interesting to see how some of our data and statistics differ from year to year.
Back when the schools closed in March, we never thought that they would have to remain closed into the fall. Scientists and medical experts suggested otherwise, but here at the Club we like to be optimistic. Sadly, the experts were right and the level of COVID-19 in our community means that it is not safe to reopen our California schools in a traditional format. On the Nevada side, the small size of both Zephyr Cove and Whitell means that they can accommodate social distancing and we are delighted for those members who will get to return to school on the 31st.