“For the Class of 2020 - we see you. There is no world in which this is fair. We will not give up on finding creative ways to honor you and restore every amount of normalcy that we can.” - Salem-Keizer Superintendent Christy Perry in an Email to Students and Families of the Class of 2020 It's graduation season. It's a rite of passage for thousands of high school and college seniors that we look forward to every year. Any other year, local high school and college administrators would be busy right now finalizing last-minute details and setting up for ceremonies and celebrations to honor the hard work and accomplishments of their graduation class. But not this year. This year, we have to socially distance. This year, we cannot gather in large groups. It isn't safe to do so. Not yet. The Salem Convention Center has been the site of many important milestones like Senior Proms, Athletic Banquets, College Events, High School Conventions and Graduation Parties just to name a few. We have witnessed first-hand just how much these special moments mean to these hard-working students and their families and we would give anything to see their smiling faces, happy tears, proud parents and hear the roaring sounds of applause and cheers fill our facility once again. Salem-Keizer Superintendent Christy Perry said it perfectly in an email to high school seniors and families of the Class of 2020 “For the Class of 2020 - we see you. There is no world in which this is fair. We will not give up on finding creative ways to honor you and restore every amount of normalcy that we can.” We know that many school administrators across the state of Oregon and around the country are getting creative and finding special ways to allow graduates to celebrate whether it's a virtual event or a drive-through graduation. Our local community has also found ways to step up to honor the class of 2020, here are just a few examples: Earlier this month, Willamette University hosted a series of beautiful and moving virtual events to celebrate the Class of 2020. Some Salem-Keizer Public Schools are hoping to safely host in-person graduations that are being tentatively planned for August. Salem-Keizer Public Schools is honoring the Class of 2020 through a statewide “Be the Light Campaign” where members of the community turn on their porch lights every Friday at 8:20 p.m. (20:20 military time). We would also like to give a shout-out to members of the Class of 2020 that have missed special highlights of their senior year like proms, senior assemblies, athletic seasons, performance opportunities, senior banquets, spirit weeks, senior trips and of course, graduation. We're proud of you and your accomplishments and promise that your time to shine will come! We'll leave you with some inspirational quotes from a few folks we admire. “Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.” - Martin Luther King Jr. “Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors.” - Louisa May Alcott “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” - Anthony Robbins “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” - Arthur Ashe “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”- Winston Churchill Congrats Class of 2020! We are proud of you and wish you all the best!
