The Long Awaited Announcement

March 13, 2020, the bell rang stating the country was going to shut down for two weeks. The students cheered as they were getting a break from school; little did they know how much their world would change. The shutdown caused the class of 2020 to be known as the “Covid class”. All senior activities were held virtually including graduation. One year later this still is a national issue, something we only thought would last two weeks. Leaving the class of 2021 missing out on their junior and senior year, having some type of celebration was necessary for this class. Dr.Cashman, the principal at Pennridge High School, said his priority was to “try and make this year as normal as possible.” His mindset was to try his best to not say no as long as it was safe and was realistic to do during a pandemic.  With the plans of graduation, senior awards, prom, and senior activities, Pennridge is making the best out of a difficult situation.

As a senior, graduation with my class was something important to me. Mr. Hegen, the senior class principal, tried everything in his power to make sure we could all safely graduate as a class. On April 15, the Pennridge community sent out an email stating that prom and graduation were ago, something that has been up in the air for a while. The email stated that since Bucks County has allowed 50 percent capacity at outdoor events, this allows each student to have four tickets for friends and family. Graduation will start promptly at 10:00 a.m. and have rain delays if needed. The seats will be spaced out 6 feet apart in all directions allowing students to take their masks off during the ceremony, while spectators will have to keep the mask on as they can’t promise 6 feet. For senior Travis Washington, this was good news as all he wanted to see this year was “a bunch of caps being thrown in the air.” Prom has been fortunate to be gifted to the class of 2021 on the date of June 4 where the class will start an early morning at Helman Field to watch the sunrise together, then get ready for school and be dismissed at 10:00 a.m. to get ready for prom. This event will be free and includes a special ending to top off the night. June 8 will be the last time we walk the halls that started our journey as freshmen.

The class of 2021 has survived two school years with Covid and is making the best of an unexpected situation. Teachers and administrators at this school have made this year as special as they could. We started the year off like no other with a mask, one-way hallways while trying to keep our distance and only half of our grade. Dr. Cashman stated, “you have to think about not only the kids but the pandemic and the environment around them.”  We should take this time to look around and enjoy these final moments. On behalf of the class of 2021, I would like to say thank you to the Pennridge community for making this year as normal as they could.