San Marino High School seniors toss their caps during the closing moments the 2019 graduation ceremony. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, many of this year’s traditional end-of-year events might be canceled.
It’s hard to imagine any single subset of Americans not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s even tougher to identify a group more impacted by the threat than seniors.
While senior citizens are at greater risk from the deadly disease, there is another class of seniors that is also struggling with fallout from the virus and the drastic measures taken to curb its spread.
Members of San Marino High School’s senior class of 2020 have expressed dismay over the loss of their final year. The San Marino Unified School District has officially shut down its campuses for the remainder of the school year amid the coronavirus pandemic and following state-issued guidance on the matter.
But San Marino High School Principal Issaic Gates is hoping to find a way to celebrate the graduates, even if it means postponing the annual events to celebrate seniors to what would normally be summer break.
“I want the senior class to know that I am heartbroken for them,” Gates said this week. “Kids gear up during their freshm
an year, and even before that, in order to show during their senior year what they have become; in sports, the arts and in academics. I feel terrible for what they are missing out on.”
Gates said he experiences the pain on a personal level as his son is a senior at Arcadia High School and is experiencing similar losses.
In an email to seniors and their families that was sent out last week when the campuses were still only temporarily shuttered, Gates said that “teachers, counselors, coaches and community at large are determined to honor the class of 2020.”
“We are committed to celebrating your success, highlighting your accomplishments and supporting the ongoing college application and acceptance process,” the letter continued.
Gates later said it remains important for administrators to continue working on a timeline for a possible graduation ceremony, Grad Night and other events, if social distancing is successful in slowing the spread of the virus.
“It is important that students have a time to point to where they have celebrated their time together,” said Gates. “It may not look traditional, but we will do our best to celebrate these young people.”
In his email, Gates mentioned such community staples as Dancetra, the senior parent dinner, the Prometheans breakfast, prom, graduation and Grad Night as events of significance. Prom has already been officially postponed, but Gates said that “nothing has been cancelled.” He said that the events will be moved to “the furthest date possible” in an effort to get them all in.
Gates also pointed to “Chalk Day” as a traditional celebration that has been, at least temporarily, shelved.
“I love to see our students in the quad, writing in chalk where they will be attending college,” Gates said.
San Marino parent Beth Davis, who is serving as a co-chair for her third Grad Night, said that her committee needs just two weeks after restrictions are lifted to put on a typical celebration, which is held annually on campus immediately following the graduation ceremony. Due to the large space available at its construction site, Grad Night committee members were able to work on the set until a couple weeks ago and stay within safe social distancing guidelines. Davis has consistently communicated her desire to put on a Grad Night for the Class of 2020.
When contacted on the matter last week, Davis was in Orange County, ironically, looking for decorative plants to place around the bus circle for the event.
Ashley Wang, a senior and president of San Marino High School’s ASB, is unsettled by the matter, but seems to have found a silver lining amidst the doom-laden storm.
“As a senior, I feel sad that I couldn’t finish off my last year on campus with my friends and my peers,” she said. “There were so many fun events in the works and it’s unfortunate that we won’t be able to experience these events as our last as Titans. Despite this, I have realized that so many of us are reaching out to each other and spreading positivity during this tough time. I, personally, have found myself communicating with people I normally would not have outside of the classroom.”
If permitted, Gates will also do his best to make things as normal as possible.
“We have to figure out where our country is at with this pandemic,” Gates said. “We have to stay safe first. We will be looking at Plan B and Plan C. I am going to have virtual meetings with teachers and student groups and I have also been in conversation with principals at other schools who are of course going through the same thing. These kids in the class of 2020 are part of our family. We want to celebrate them and see them off in a proper way. We won’t let them down.”
Much like Davis’s flower shopping, Gates has made a down payment of sorts as well.
“I’m working on my graduation speech,” he said.
