Wednesday, September 28th saw the return of an event that hasn’t graced Ted Monica Stadium in quite some time – Freshman Field Day. Shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the tradition was last celebrated in 2019 – when the Class of 2023 had just been introduced to the MHS community. However, thanks to the relaxing of COVID-19-related safety measures, as well as the diligent work of this year’s new PGC (Peer Group Connections) leaders, Freshman Field Day was finally able to make a return.

“We all discussed the different activities that we thought the freshmen would enjoy and then we split up into pairs to choose which activities we wanted to run,” said Sophia Modi, a junior and one of the PGC leaders involved with the organization of the event. “The process was not too difficult, but we did put a lot of effort into thinking about what the freshmen would actually enjoy doing because we really wanted them to have a fun time and get to know their classmates!” 

That effort was certainly apparent, for when the freshmen arrived at Ted Monica that afternoon they found themselves inundated with applause by the PGC classes of 2023 and 2024 on the Dodger Walk, just in front of over a dozen games set up all across the field. The event lasted about 2 hours in total and consisted of the freshman class being split into several groups of about 14 students that then rotated through the games, each group being led by a pair of PGC leaders. 

“I believe that the juniors did a fantastic job organizing Freshman Field Day,” said

Bethany Bradshaw, a senior PGC leader. “Due to COVID restrictions the juniors never got to experience Freshman Field Day themselves, and despite that, they did a stupendous job with the event. Everyone was so engaged and having fun, so I think it was a big success!” Following the event, many of the senior leaders reported overhearing freshmen talking about how surprisingly fun it all was. It seems that MHS can rest assured that Freshman Field Day is back and here to stay as a tradition both greatly enjoyed, and fondly remembered.