Searcy, AR (LP) — Thirty-seven students and their teachers were ecstatic to travel to Hendrix College to compete in the Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association State Competition on March 14, 2020. However, their excitement would soon be for nought. In an announcement made by the AFLTA a few days before the aforementioned event, it was announced that the competition was officially cancelled due to concern over the COVID-19 possibly spreading and causing potentially massive disruptions throughout the state. AFLTA stated on their competition website “Given recent developments regarding COVID-19 in our state, we believe it is the best interest of the community, teachers, and students to not hold the AFLTA competition scheduled for Saturday, March 14 at Hendrix. Please read the following thoroughly so that everyone has all the information available at this time. We are working with Hendrix to determine our options to potentially reschedule at a later date, if at all possible. All registration and payments are on a temporary hold until we have a concrete plan. Teachers are responsible for communicating information with their individual schools, administrators, students, and parents. All official communications regarding the event will be from AFLTA to teachers and event volunteers. The AFLTA Executive Committee, Competition Chair, and Hendrix Event Team will be meeting to monitor the situation and determine next steps. We are so sorry for the inconvenience that this causes. We know many students have worked very hard to prepare for this, and we will strive to reschedule to honor that hard work and dedication. Please know that we have students’ best interests at heart, and we want to take steps to keep our community safe, by erring on the side of caution.” This statement was released on March 11th, 2020.
The news of cancellation moved quickly through the student body before teachers could handle the news themselves. One student and hopeful attendee, Joshua Williams stated “I heard about the trip’s cancellation a couple of days before the contest was scheduled to happen. I was disappointed but then also part of me was a little relieved just because I knew my next few weekends were going to be just as busy. I kind of heard rumors before but the next day my French teacher told me and the couple of other students who were set to compete.”
While the AFLTA described its good intentions in full, some students don’t necessarily agree with the choice to cancel the competition. “I’m still skeptical. Not to say that I’m not concerned at all, I just think that if we continue with the precautions we are under things will be able to go back to normal much quicker and much better than if we don’t,” said Williams. Others feel the decision was a wise one. Lori Nielsen, one of the teachers planning to go on the trip said she agrees with the decision because “there had been some cases in Conway. I would rather be safe. I’m concerned because now I have several friends that have it. It is a serious and scary situation.”
Fortunately, there is no expense to the school for the cancellation. “Actually, I was taking the check to the competition. So, I returned the check to our bookkeeper,” said Nielsen. Though it may not be until next spring that AFLTA holds its competition, the widespread feelings about this remain mild, most likely due to COVID-19 looming above the world.
For more information about the AFLTA and its work, visit http://www.aflta.org/.
