Nearly five months after the COVID-19 pandemic cut their senior year short, Macon County’s class of 2020 finally graduated this past weekend.
Franklin High School students voted early in the summer to postpone graduation to Aug. 1 in hopes that restrictions from the state would be looser by then and allow for a traditional ceremony. However, the pandemic has not improved, so they ended up with a drive-thru ceremony in which the graduates got their diploma, took a photo with principal Barry Woody and their families, one carload at a time.
It wasn’t exactly what families had envisioned, but they were nonetheless proud of what their students had achieved.
“This is the biggest thing that a teenager ever accomplishes,” said Ginger Ross-Couch, whose nephew Jared Ross graduated on Saturday. “It’s the first thing that they ever do completely for themselves.”
Macon Early College had a little more room to operate because of the smaller graduating class. Families were able to line up outside of their cars and go through individual ceremonies with the school staff. Principal Mark Sutton felt that, given the circumstances, it was a respectable proxy for the traditional graduation system.
“I just didn’t want to hand it through the car window after everything that we’ve been through,” Sutton said. “This is still a safe way to do it, and you get to see the people that you’re used to seeing every day.”
Union Academy enjoyed a similar individualized process. On July 20 and 21, students were able to bring up to 10 guests to their appointment and then take photos around the campus. While it didn’t look much like it has in other years, principal Diane Cotton said that the feelings and significance were the same.
“Every year at graduation, we’re so proud of our students but we’re also sad to see them go,” Cotton said. “This year was no different. We did our best to make it special for all of them.”
No matter the format, it was an emotional time, not just for the students and their families, but for school staff as well. It’s been a long few months of devising plans on short deadlines and searching for ways to keep education going, but having some closure for the 2019-20 school year was an important milestone and inspiration to face the beginning of 2020-21.
“It’s exciting, and it’s been a long time coming,” said MEC math teacher Lindsey Rowland. “We’re just glad that we got to see them at all and celebrate them.”
For the graduates, the events were a relief. They’ve had to finish off their school experience under unprecedented circumstances but they’ve handled it with grace and are thankful that they were recognized for it.
“I wish that more people could have come, but I enjoyed my time,” said MEC graduate Noah Carter. “My teachers have been so great. I’ve always felt very supported and loved here.”
With colleges adopting various plans for return and employment in flux all over the country, there’s no telling exactly what will come next for this year’s graduating class, but if they made it through a historically challenging senior year, they’re confident that they’ll be ready for anything.
“It feels freeing,” FHS graduate Anna Gibson said. “I don’t know exactly what’s coming next, but we’re going to figure it out as we go.”