The tidal wave of change occurred since Friday the the 13th in March 2020, the date schools were shut down across the nation, has been fast and furious.. locally schools fell to the same fate: Shuddered at first for what officials labeled a ‘deep cleaning.’

Soon after it was apparent: School was out for the year.. We covered this early in March even before school closings with a story “School’s out for virus.”

Underclass persons may not feel the full consequences of this action.. but high school seniors are experiencing the pains and tribulations of being the class of Covid-19 during the graduation year of 2020..

Sports seasons and banquets were first to be canceled.. SATs were next..

All of the relationships that were finalizing their friendships during senior year were halted immediately..

Due to the shutdowns, many friends have only experienced the warmth of conversation through Zoom or other online Apps.

Those big moments … the fact it took certain people weeks or even months to gain the strength and confidence to ask a date to the prom, only to have that magic moment of love swept from beneath them..

Yes, there will be virtual proms in various districts.. North Schuylkill is planning one for May 27.. but it will lock the feel of human touch..

NOT READY FOR PROM TIME

Some may scoff at how important the prom gown and tuxedo rentals are.. But voyage back to your own high school senior year.

You were able to demean the trivial nature of a prom in real time with a prom still occurring!

Today.. those final dances and class songs (chosen by friends along the way) will not play .. They will be missing.

The class of 2020 across America is also being robbed of the formal graduation. It’s their first foray into adulthood.. minus the pomp and circumstance, celebration and reward that comes with hard work after 12 years of schooling..

As pointed out, 2020 seniors were primarily born in the aftermath of 9/11.. They were the first high school class to learn about 9/11 as a past event.. They are not pushed into society without applause.. into a college situation that seems shaky and a job market that seems impossible.

Hopes for the future rely upon them.. The Zoomers amongst us.

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The weekly light show

North Schuylkill has been honoring various people throughout the pandemic and school shut down.. each Friday night at 8pm, the lights over Ghosh Orthodontics Field at Spartan Stadium are brightened as a tribute to a new theme each week. On May 8, the senior class decided to show support for all of our essential workers.

This light show was recorded on May 2, 2020… The poignancy of silence as the lights slowly embrace the darkness…

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THE OLD TRADITION BUILT ON A ROCK

The football stadium light show is a new tradition..

When you rewind time, you’ll fine that there is an another more unorthodox tradition every year at North Schuylkill..

Juniors, at the point a when the senior class graduates, take over the famed ‘rock’ at the top of the mountain that overlooks the school district.

Each year, newly appointed seniors trek up a somewhat dangerous incline to put their year on ‘the rock,’ the mantle of their final year of high school.. the symbol of their success.

This year’s “20” has suddenly become historic..

Who knew way back in the late summer of 2019 heat what 2020 would bring? The first historic pandemic of epic proportions since 1918.. shutdowns.. love lost.. businesses closed.. In person Prom canceled.. and graduation nixed.

We spoke with some past students to gauge where the actually tradition began. And this one was tough.

Usually newspaper articles or other publications show up in searches of past events.. But ‘the rock’ has always been off the radar, a symbol of the rebellious spirit of youth.

We reached out to several graduates and their children to ask where the tradition began.. Finally we were told that around the late 70s and 1980 after the completion of the new high school building (something we have talked about in detail here), a graduating class decided initiate the tradition..

Other classes said that through the 1980s and 1990s had to battle Ashland police who often waited at the pole line for teenagers to venture up the mountain.. One class person from the late 1990s told me the police opposed their entrance and they came up with an alternate route ..

Without delay, each year’s rock has been taken over by the next assuming class..

It will be no different as 2020 shifts into the class of 2021..