The foundation of the future fully formed for New Ipswich and Greenville Friday evening, as Mascenic’s senior class of 2020 strode into the world as graduates following an outdoor ceremony in the high school parking lot.
“We graduated during a pandemic,” said valedictorian Emma Charland during her address, “but to be honest, the pandemic isn’t what makes us tough. It’s the effort to learn and grow that builds character.”
Charland was one of 75 Mascenic seniors who walked across the stage set up in front of the school Friday night to receive their diplomas, a ceremony months in the making after the school was closed in March due to COVID-19. Students and teachers adhered to social distancing guidelines, marching in and sitting six feet apart, wearing “Mascenic Class of 2020” facemasks and sanitizing the microphone between each speaker. Parents and family members watched as they sat in or beside their vehicles in the parking lot.
“If there’s one thing I know about this generation, it’s that we’ve been through a lot,” said class president Tanner Duval. The Ithaca-bound senior shared his struggles with depression and the solidarity he found with classmates who helped each other overcome their stresses together.
“We were forced to deal with the stress of school, and our own emotions that were suddenly making themselves known,” Duval said. “The hardest part of it is that they don’t teach you in school how to deal with those emotions…You never know what someone’s going through, and sometimes, the kindness and love you express in a school environment could be the thing that saves someone.”
Salutatorian Sophie Callahan, who’ll attend the University of Vermont, took a moment to reflect on all the memories the Class of 2020 made together – sports games, spirit week, and everyday moments at school.
“Those will stick with us, because those are the times where we not only grew closer with each other, but grew into the people that we are today,” Callahan said. “These are the memories that we will cherish in years to come, and I’m incredibly grateful for all of you and I know that there are amazing things in store for all of us in the future.”
That future is an uncertain one for the Class of 2020, graduating in the midst of a tumultuous time, but Charland sent the Mascenic seniors off with a message of strength and hope.
“Just know that if your faith in the unknown is greater than your fear, then you’ll still find strength in the most trying circumstances,” Charland said.