On September 9th, for the first time in Hackley’s history, the year was started with every student attending the yearly tradition of Convocation in a digital environment. Normally, every student, Kindergarten through 12th grade, meets on Akin Common to hear speeches from Head of School Micheal Wirtz, and the Student Council President. Mr. Wirtz reads a children’s book and this year, division directors presented various awards, normally awarded on Class Day, to teachers. Award winners included John Gillard as the recipient of the Pickert Award for Excellence in Coaching, Eliizabeth Fitzpatrick with the Kimelman Award, Seth Karpinski with the Rice Award, Zachary Boboth with the Lambos Award, and Roni Kanter with the Lambos Award.
This year, due to the various COVID-19 regulations and concerns, Convocation took place virtually. While some speakers gave pre-recorded remarks that were screen shared, others gave speeches live on the Quad. All of it was shown through Zoom, the video conferencing platform that is used for almost all virtual meetings during the pandemic.
Despite the differences, many of the usual customs of Convocation remained. Mr. Wirtz presented the picture book of this year, Pass it On by Sophy Henn. “None of us could prepare for this mentally or emotionally,” Student Council President Sebastian Doctors said during his speech. Convocation ended with one of the most iconic traditions of the event with the, “K-12 cheer; it’s going to be a little different [this year]” Mr. Wirtz said with a chuckle right before every student and teacher yelled “Go Hack!” in their advisory rooms.