Fortunate to remain connected as a class

June 11, 2020

Soaring above a global crisis

The world changed in March – and one group uniquely affected was the high school graduating Class of 2020. In a moment’s notice, it seemed, Catholic high schools closed their physical campuses as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, sending thousands of students home to begin online classes.

For the seniors of the 22 Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the final two months of their high school lives were turned upside down. But the amazing thing is how God worked quietly through this crisis. Over the next several pages, see how the Quarantine Class of 2020 used the support of their parents, teachers and faith to shine despite difficult circumstances. The Clarion Herald asked seniors to reflect on how they used their time of quarantine and handled the challenges of a global pandemic during one of the milestone moments of their lives.

Get ready to be inspired!

Claire Perret, St. Scholastica Academy

I would venture to say that no students at St. Scholastica recognized the true impact of the coronavirus – that is, until we received the email one Friday in our last period announcing the school’s closure for the next month.

Many emotions – primarily shock – coursed through campus as we all questioned what this would mean for the rest of the school year in terms of distance learning, event cancellations and all the other things we had come to associate with the spread of the virus.

No one felt this blow land quite as hard as did the seniors.

The Class of 2020 emerged from the previous four years, giddy to experience all the bonuses and entitlements that came with our new-found seniority. As the year progressed, hurling us disbelievingly toward our last day at SSA, news of the coronavirus seemed like mere background noise amid all the other tasks holding our attention.

SSA’s closure marked the beginning of online schooling. Every “low” shared during Mrs. McIver’s virtual Lord’s Days revealed how much we wanted it to be over. We wanted to be back, not only because attending class in a real classroom was wildly preferable to online Zoom meetings, but also because we missed school.

In a strange turn of events, we wanted to return to the place we were pining to leave a few weeks ago.

We wanted to experience our last few weeks in the place that had become our second home for the last five years. And more than anything, we wanted those last moments with the girls who, even if they weren’t our closest friends, were our sisters.

Of course, we also missed our teachers, some of whom hold very special places in our hearts and who we may as well have called our friends.

As a class we were sent several emails throughout the hiatus pertaining to the scheduling or rescheduling of our most coveted senior events: our last prom, college T-shirt day, farewell assembly, class night, and, of course, graduation.

There was an obvious effort to try to make our last few weeks as special as they could be through a computer screen, and we were very grateful, but, of course, things couldn’t quite be the same. There would be no prancing around campus with our countdown numbers hanging from our neck; no final event to spend time with our eighth-grade little sisters; no last prom, sports seasons or plays; not even a normal graduation.

However, through it all, we found ways to stay connected. We colored our countdown numbers at home and showed them off during video calls. Teachers sent us videos in which they spoke words of encouragement, sympathy and wisdom. Some girls dressed up on the day we would have had prom and spent the night instead on a Zoom call with friends.

“Netflix Parties” became a staple for socially distanced movie nights. We weren’t together, but we still had each other, as well as our SSA community, supporting us.

As painful as it was to miss out on our last weeks, we were incredibly lucky to be part of something that we cherished so much and that made our early departure so difficult.

On behalf of all the seniors, I would like to thank SSA for all the memories we’ve made, the wonderful people we’ve met during our time there, as well as all the lessons we’ve learned. We miss you, now more than ever.