Verbatim: Athletes, P.E. teachers reflect on Omicron’s impact on school sports
February 9, 2022
Though state COVID-19 cases cases have been slowly declining, many Palo Alto High School students are still affected by the virus, leaving many P.E. teachers and athletes nervous about COVID-19’s effects on upcoming sports. With the new mask mandate coming out on Feb. 15 removing indoor masking requirements in California, students are questioning their safety.
Photos by Maia Johnsson
![Economics teacher Eric Bloom encourages students to return their textbooks for the end of the year. According to Bloom, students might have recognized his unique fashion choices including vibrant shoes and belt buckles. Bloom said his attire choices actually linked to his lessons. "I have a lot of shoes, I have a lot of belt buckles and wear them purpose because of its educational value," Bloom said. "Especially in the earlier part of my career when we would talk about product differentiation, I had an assignment where students go home and count how many different kinds of shoes [they have]."](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-6-1-300x214.jpg)