Grandview High School Class of 2020 Recognized
By Mary K. King
On March 12, 2020, the senior class of Grandview High School
went home for spring break. This would be the last time they saw each other
until graduation, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of school
buildings and districts across the country implemented distance learning. Despite
various challenges, the Grandview School District hosted a graduation ceremony,
drive-through style, for the class of 2020 on Monday, June 29.
Following the ceremony, the district put together a video
featuring the traditional speeches typically heard at graduation. Principal Dr.
Jennifer Price, retiring this school year, stated that if the graduates
surround themselves with people who make them happy, who push them and
challenge them, they will be a force to change the world. This theme of change
and of overcoming adversity was a common thread in all of the graduation
speeches.
“I know this is not the graduation ceremony that you
envisioned when you started your senior year 10 months ago, or even when you
started your last semester in January,” said Superintendent Dr. Kenny
Rodrequez. “I know that you’ve been dreaming about this moment and, at no time,
dreamt that this would be how it would play out. I believe that you have an
amazing opportunity - a calling, if you will - to go forth from this moment and
create a future with more purpose, vision, energy and hope than those who came
before you.”
Rodrequez went on to say that this is the point where he
typically tells the graduating class some words of wisdom, and shares what they
can expect to see in the future. However, he said, this time he doesn’t know
those answers.
“We tend to speak to you as if we somehow have it figured
out,” he said. “We don’t really know what’s going to happen next. We don’t know
how things will improve or how the world will be different when we get to the
other side of this pandemic. We don’t know how the country will change based
upon the protests related to the social injustice that we’ve witnessed these
past weeks. We don’t know if systemic inequities are going to continue to exist
in our society or if they will finally be addressed.
“What I do know is that everything happens for a reason,”
Rodrequez added. “You are a chosen class. It might not feel that way to you
now, but you have been chosen for a reason. You can think of all this as a
negative, or you can change your mindset and realize that you have an
opportunity - an opportunity to seize your future and the future of this
country. You have more power now than you can possibly imagine.”
Rodrequez challenged the class of 2020 to put more love than
hate out into the world, and to rise above the tasks of the last several
months.
“You are bulldogs and you can build the future that you want
to see,” he said. “The fight to build that future will not be easy, but it will
be worth it.”
Class Salutatorian Kiyah Neely said that she feels her class
was robbed of their senior year due to the pandemic. Despite that, however, she
said that her class had amazing school spirit, and the ability of her peers to
come together for the good of the whole has been a quality she has admired.
“It cannot take away the fact that we made it,” said Neely.
“Most of us have been surrounded by the same people for years, and it is truly
amazing watching people grow and become who they’re meant to be.
Jason Keleher, class valedictorian, assured his classmates
that the lack of a traditional graduation ceremony does not reflect that the
class of 2020 put in any less effort than other classes.
“I choose to perceive this strange opportunity as a unique
send-off point for a uniquely talented generation,” said Keleher. “Walking
through our high school halls as a freshman, I could tell there was something
special about the class of 2020, aside from all the puns about us having 2020
vision. We tried harder and aimed further than the classes that came before us,
never settling for mediocrity.
“In this ever-changing world of division and isolation we
graduates are about to enter into, those aspirations are desperately needed,”
Keleher added. “We need the loud, clear voices of this generation to be vocal
about injustice, truth and hope. We must challenge apathy wherever it appears
and instead promote compassion. And we must be agents of positive change, even
if it means abandoning the safety and comfort of the past.”
Though the future may be uncertain for the graduates, class
president Jadyn Brooks said that she believes her class will be the one to
shake up the world.
“We are the class of 2020,” said Brooks, “and we have a
perfect vision moving forward.”
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