Editor’s Note: The original version of this article contained an inaccurate quote from senior Marirose Aleardi. The article now contains the correct quote.
In an unprecedented turn of events, 2015 Airband has been rescheduled to 10:22 am on Friday morning.
The change comes in light of the Friends School League girls’ field hockey semifinal game at Westtown on Friday. The Foxes have a 12:00 dismissal for the game and were originally slated to miss Airband, which was scheduled for upper school lunch at 1:00. The event will now take place during the E day extended elective block from 10:22-11:23 and may run slightly into the ensuing double period.
“I think it’s great,” said field hockey captain senior Rylee Fennell regarding the change. “A lot of the girls have choreographed Airband or are in it, so it’s great for them, and great for the community as a whole, that we don’t have to miss it.” Fennell mentioned that at least one team member seriously considered missing the game, and a number of others had expressed possibly doing the same, to stay for Airband.
Mr. Brandon, who announced the schedule change in announcements after Meeting for Worship on Wednesday, explained the source of the problem. “The FSL game was originally scheduled for Saturday, so we knew there was no conflict. We know the FSL schedule a year in advance. What we don’t know is when the state is going to release the tournament bracket. We got the state schedule, and all of a sudden we saw there was a conflict. And the difference with the state is, the state gives a time that the game has to be played by, which gives us a pretty narrow window.”
After Westtown rescheduled the semifinal game to 2:45 on Friday, field hockey coach Danielle Dayton contacted the school’s officials to request a later start time, but that was an implausible solution. “If we started any later, the game would run later, it could get dark, and they’d have to call the game, which would be bad for everybody,” said Fennell.
Mr. Omilian, who discussed the possibility of rescheduling Airband with Mr. Brandon, mentioned that the decision wasn’t as obvious as it may seem. “We got [contacted by] students, parents, faculty, administration. … Some people liked it, some didn’t. The elective blocks, those classes don’t meet that often, and missing a period, especially near the end of the quarter, some teachers weren’t happy about it.”
Some students are concerned that Friday’s lunch will be event-free. “I just wish they’d schedule something else at lunch,” said senior Marirose Aleardi. “But I’m glad that everyone will be at Airband.”
In spite of some objections, the response has been mostly positive. Mr. Thomson commented, “For an event with so much tradition, it would be wrong for people to have to miss it for a sports event. … I think they had to do it.”
Airband videos will be posted on mfswordsworth.com on Friday afternoon.
