On November seventh, Hastings High was released from school due to the volleyball’s teams qualification for the NSAA State Championship. As a result, many students attended the game at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.
This year at Hastings High, all seven fall sports qualified for state, and many records were broken. However, school was released for volleyball, and not for other sports, due to certain circumstances.
“Many other teams qualified for state events, but those events are different. For example, with State golf we can’t really send our band and cheerleaders; softball and baseball events are multiple days,” Superintendent Jeff Schneider said.
A lot of thought was put into whether student should have school or not. As the superintendent, Schneider makes these decisions for state events.
“We look at all the events Hasting High can be a part of, and ultimately it’s up to me if we have school. If we are sending our band and cheerleaders, we’re saying we want to get as much support for the group, so let’s send as many people as we can. The volleyball game was scheduled and the climate was controllable, ” Schneider said.
A spirit bus was offered for those who wanted to attend the game but couldn’t drive themselves. The overall goal was to get as much of the student body in Lincoln to support the volleyball team as possible.
“We got out of school to support our volleyball team and to have school spirit, as well as to celebrate their accomplishments,” Principal Dr. Thomas Szlanda said.
The next time school will be released is if the boys or girls basketball team qualify for state.
“There are only so many school days that we can cancel as we have to meet a requirement for the state of Nebraska. There are four events that we will get out of school for just because of the nature of the event, not because they are any more or less important: State volleyball, State boys and girls basketball and State football, if we held a game in the evening,” Schneider said.
Despite many being upset about a day off school, including teachers and participants in other fall sports that qualified for state, administration is very proud of Hastings High’s athletics.
“This is a great problem to have. What we have going for us at Hastings High this fall are students who participate in many activities that are qualifying for State, which is excellent,” Schneider said.
