Unfortunately, Speech Trek has been canceled for the 2021-2022 school year.
In December, our venue for the final contest notified us that they cannot support AAUW’s COVID safety requirements because they exceed the minimum guidelines of Placer County. In order for the Speech Trek final to proceed as scheduled, we would need to eliminate our additional AAUW’s safety requirements.
AAUW-RSP believes in Safety First for everyone—students, audience, and volunteers. To this end, our branch adopted AAUW National and State recommendations for all AAUW indoor events. The Speech Trek committee supports our branch’s current safety requirements and rather than compromise them, the decision was made to cancel the contest.
Other considerations: no student applications had been received; teachers reported they and students have been under stress as they work to catch-up after a long period of virtual learning; and we still didn’t have confirmation for the venue for our semi-final and training of judges.
Teachers were immediately notified of cancellation before the schools’ two-week winter vacation.
During these times of COVID, unexpected announcements come suddenly. Hopefully, things will be better in the next school year.
Comments