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Surprise school seniors mourn loss of traditional rites

DUSD hopes to make up proms, graduation later

Posted 4/7/20

Graduation is just one event many students across Surprise are possibly going to miss out on — at least the traditional way — now that schools are closed statewide through the end of the school year because of fears from COVID-19, or the coronavirus.

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Surprise school seniors mourn loss of traditional rites

DUSD hopes to make up proms, graduation later

Posted

Tammy Pierce has the honor each year of acting as one of the two name readers during the graduation ceremony for Shadow Ridge High School, 10909 N. Perryville Road.

The school’s student council advisor has been doing it since about the time the school had its first graduating class nearly a decade ago.

But she had reason to be extra excited this year. Her daughter, Mary, was one of the names she was supposed to read out May 15 at State Farm Stadium.

“I’ve been looking forward to saying my daughter’s name,” Tammy Pierce said. “Now, I might not be able to, and that’s sad.”

Graduation is just one event many students across Surprise are possibly going to miss out on — at least the traditional way — now that schools are closed statewide through the end of the school year because of fears from COVID-19, or the coronavirus.

Surprise schools are dealing with the reality that in addition to actual education time, traditional in-person events such as honors and awards assemblies, pep rallies, spirit weeks, yearbook signing parties and any kind of graduation gatherings with family are gone for the year.

“We’re going to cancel Senior Ditch Day this year,” joked Adam Schwartz, the principal of Willow Canyon High School, 17901 W. Lundberg St.

Yes, even Senior Ditch Day has been obliterated by the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s definitely sad, but it’s for the best,” Willow Canyon senior Rylee Fitzgerald said. “They obviously wouldn’t be doing this (canceling school) if it wasn’t real. We shouldn’t be going back to school when there is pandemic going on.”

Right now, DUSD officials are keeping it flexible when it comes to graduation, the most sacred event for most high school students. But they’re also realistic and know there is a certain point where it will be too late to be held.

The district is looking for dates it can secure after Memorial Day if the current date isn’t feasible because of the coronavirus concerns. 

“Hopefully it happens soon,” Valley Vista High School senior Kaitlin Crane said. “Some are going into military. Some going to different states to follow their dreams.”

While no drop-dead date has been decided it yet, all indications are the district is using the July 4th weekend as the latest to have official school events.

“I will already be gone,” said Jonathan HagEstad, a senior at Willow Canyon who plans to leave for college in mid-June. “I’m going to be missing a lot of aspects most seniors would have.” 

Virtual reality

If the pandemic goes longer, there’s a good chance each Dysart high school will stage a virtual graduation online. How that would work, though, nobody is really sure yet.

“If we have a virtual graduation, a lot of people are really bummed out because they spent a lot of time working hard,” Mr. HagEstad said. “To have it be online makes you miss out on all those memories of walking on the stage with your friends.”

The three state universities have already canceled graduation ceremonies.

“It’s better than nothing, I guess, if that’s what it comes to,” Mary Pierce said, adding she’d much prefer to “be able to do the classic tradition of moving your tassel and being up on stage.”

Just like the rest of the world, the district is taking it week by week.

“None of us are mindreaders, and none of us have a crystal ball,” Mr. Schwartz said. “We don’t know how this is going to end.”

Willow Canyon and Valley Vista are also holding out hope to stage rescheduled proms, which were supposed to happen this month.

Willow Canyon’s student council leadership told Mr. Schwartz it didn’t want to cancel prom altogether.

“They said, ‘it’s important for us to have prom,’” Mr. Schwartz said. “So, we’re looking at what is the latest possible date to have prom. If we can get it done before Fourth of July weekend we’re in good business. We’ve got fingers crossed. If we can prom a in June, we’ll have a prom in June.”

Ms. Fitzgerald, a member of the Willow Canyon student council, said prom is a rite of passage seniors at her school don’t want to miss.

“I’m sure our teachers and staff will try to get us something,” she said. “We’ve worked so hard.”

Valley Vista students received an email last week that told them graduation and prom is still tentative at a later date.

“That was a really uplifting thing” Ms. Crane said. “Some students already bought their prom dresses and sent out invitations to graduation.” 

At Shadow Ridge, Tammy Pierce said the school is issuing refunds for the event that was supposed to happen April 18 at Events on Jackson in downtown Phoenix.

“Right now, we’re giving refunds for this prom, and if we can plan one in May or June, we’ll resell tickets,” Ms. Pierce said. “We can’t put a date on that.”

Her daughter plans to have her own prom shared virtually on April 18 no matter what.

“I’m planning on getting ready on our original prom date and taking pictures in our backyard,” Ms. Pierce said. “It’s still such a special time for those girls who have bought their senior prom dress.”

Best effort

Virtual events could become the norm for Surprise students, who are already undergoing remote learning for the rest of the school year at least.

Willow Canyon is already planning to do it with its senior honors night and NHS awards, which are usually in person. The school is hoping to host it on Facebook Live April 27, the same night it was originally scheduled.

“If we can’t do it in person, we’ll make sure we do it virtually,” Mr. Schwartz said.

“Zoom stock is going through the roof,” Mr. Schwartz joked. “I’ve never heard of it until this week, but I’ve had 20 Zoom meeting this week.

It’s helping take the sting out for students feeling the social loss.

“It was our last chance to participate,” Ms. Crane said. “The worst part is senior year goes by so fast. It never really clicked that I was a senior. This is the time of year where all of our senior events happen. You’re closing that chapter of your life, and it was kind of cut short.

“But we are thankful for our health.”

Students are also missing out on the chance to exchange yearbook messages to each other, so schools are doing their best to keep that event a possibility.

Factory delays at yearbook publishers because of the coronavirus means the yearbooks wouldn’t have been delivered at the normal time anyway. Of course, that won’t matter since there won’t be any students on campus to get them.

Instead, schools are planning to organize yearbook signing parties sometime in the summer

Time adjustment

For now, seniors are busy adjusting to their new way of life, which included getting over the denial that their senior year was over in an instant.

“I mean, it definitely came as a shock,” Mary Pierce said. “I definitely couldn’t have thought of my senior year ending up this way. When you’re a freshman, you dream of these things when you see upperclassmen going to these events.”

Ms. Pierce said some didn’t accept that it was over.

“I think at first a lot of people didn’t kind of understand the whole seriousness of it all — the extremity of how real it got,” she said about the mood around school before it ended. “For a lot of these seniors we were all in denial at first. ‘They can’t just take away our senior year like this.’”

Ms. Crane said she’s finally getting into the grove.

“It was kind of a slow start,” she said. “The hardest part would be not procrastinating, especially with ‘senior-itis.’”

Ms. Fitzgerald said she’s had more time for self care and to work out.

“I’m definitely sleeping in everyday,” she said. “I also babysit a lot of a time. It helps me to wake up at a scheduled time and get my work done early in the day.”

Ms. Fitzgerald babysits for multiple families and still has plenty of work.

“Lots of the families I baby sit for are still working,” she said.

Mr. HagEstad said he’s been stuck in the house for a few weeks.

“I haven’t seen my friends in a while,” he said.

Right perspective

School-age children everywhere know they’re living through history right now, but especially the seniors who lost their traditions. They’re trying to hold it in the right perspective as the next chapter of their lives unfold.

“So far, it’s not life-ending,” said Mr. HagEstad, who saw his track and field season cut short. “I still get to complete school and get done with what I need to. But it’s just the fact that I’ll be missing out with my memories.”

Mr. HagEstad said the abrupt end to track season was a big life lesson.

“It made me wish I didn’t take it for granted the last three years,” Mr. HagEstad said. “It just makes me realize how quickly everything can be taking away so quickly. This really could be the last play of my life. It’s put some things in perspective, that’s for sure.”

Mr. HagEstad was scheduled to leave in early June to attend Carroll College in Helena, Montana, where he will play football.

“But that looks like it’s going to get set back,” he said.

The school, like others across the nation, canceled spring practice and has conducted meetings online that Mr. HagEstad has been able to join.

Ms. Crane plans on attending Northern Arizona University, where she will be part of the honors college. She already has her dorm picked out and is already looking forward to that move.

“It is good to know that I have my next step in front of me,” Ms. Crane said. “It’s not a complete letdown.”

Ms. Fitzgerald will be attending Estrella Community College, while Mary Pierce plans to go study elementary education at ASU, where her orientation will be, of course, online.

Until then, Dysart and other Surprise students will wait out the storm.

“I don’t want to pretend to understand the science behind it,” Mr. Schwartz said. “I like to be the optimist. As soon as we can, we will welcome our students back.”

Editor’s Note: Jason Stone can be reached at jstone@newszap.com