District 21 goes virtual to keep Field Day tradition alive

For decades Field Day has been a highlight of the school year for students in Wheeling Township Elementary School District 21.

With some creativity this spring, teachers made sure to keep it that way.

Students and parents were worried about the daylong physical fitness event being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures. But thanks to forward thinking from leaders in the district's Physical Education departments, this year's "Virtual" Field Day turned into a resounding success for the more than 6,000 students who participated last Friday.

"We presented all the materials in four different languages because we didn't want to leave anyone out," said Rich Oberman, a physical education teacher at Twain and Longfellow elementary schools. "We also considered everyone's socio-economic situations for kids that may not have the resources other kids have. We didn't want anyone to miss out on a great experience."

Field Day is an annual spring athletic event held by the district's 13 elementary and middle schools serving Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Prospect Heights and Wheeling. Running, jumping ... you name it, and for years thousands of students have participated in the tradition.

Weeks ago teachers began planning an alternate way for students - and even their families - to participate virtually in Field Day. Under the theme of "Go For Gold," and by cleverly utilizing interactive technology, teachers designed a series of events that could be completed with items found at home.

With a laundry basket, socks, stuffed animals, plastic bottles, brooms and more, students managed a full day of activity and posted videos online for teachers and fellow students to view and comment on.

"The thing the kids loved the most was the effectiveness of being able to do these activities at home with regular household items," said Mike Sengullu, a physical education teacher at Riley Elementary School. "It took us several weeks of collaboration to get it done but they were still able to be active and do all this fun stuff."

District 21 teachers have been on the cutting edge of utilizing Seesaw as an interactive resource with students. They even gave a presentation on the use of Seesaw in November at the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance convention.

Their training came in handy when the pandemic struck and schools were pushed into remote learning. District 21 was able to hit the ground running, and the planning again paid off while hosting Virtual Field Day.

"We've been working on Seesaw for months," Oberman said. "That really gave us a head start on all this."

Oberman and Sengullu have been overwhelmed by the positive response to Virtual Field Day. Sengullu is still uploading videos from students trying to improve their performances to "Gold" status.

While the teachers look forward to being back together with students for next year's Field Day, this year's virtual version will be long remembered and appreciated.

"This is the closest thing we could have right now to being with your classmates and your teachers," Sengullu said. "Their interaction and using terminology we've taught them the last few months and years, that's really been shining."