About six months ago, Fountain Hills schools were just going on spring break when the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic became more clear, and nobody knew at the time that students would not return for in-person lessons or extracurricular activities for the rest of the school year.

Classes only recently resumed on-campus activities, though with a laundry list of added precautions in place. As you’ll see in this week’s issue of The Times, so too have returned youth athletics. We’ve got season previews for football and volleyball ready to roll and expect additional previews, as well as coverage from competitions, in the weeks ahead.

Just like in the classroom, students and coaching staffs have implemented a number of additional safety measures for the upcoming season in order to keep everyone healthy. Combine that with a bit of luck, and hopefully everyone will be able to have a safe and exciting fall sports season.

Go Falcons!