On Thursday, May 28th, 2020, members of the Senior Class of 2020 took the first of their final steps as students at Lawrence County CTC.

Staggering arrival times, seniors took their final official walk through the school’s doorways to be greeted at five different stations. At the first, members of the Class of 2020 returned their borrowed Chromebooks, the laptops that connected them to their education, to their teachers, and to each other through the lessons over the last few months.

The second station gave them the opportunity to take care of any outstanding balances, a chance to walk away with a clean slate.

These first two stations were a little frustrating for some, but the next station put it all into perspective because it was at this third station where all they had worked for, all they had cried over, all they had longed for would finally be delivered: their graduation tickets — eight per family and their Caps and Gowns — the symbols of achievement, hard work, and fortitude.

Smiling teachers at the fourth station greeted each student with gifts of a senior t-shirt (complete with an eagle wielding a few extra rolls of toilet paper to remind them of this unprecedented time) and a yard sign commemorating their proud achievement.

Finally, each grinning graduate-to-be, arms laden with graduation regalia, was asked for their post-graduation plans for jobs, for post-secondary schooling, or for the military before they exited through the doors of the school they called home for the past three years — beyond the staff who gathered to wish them well, past their home school flags — reminding them from whence they came, and on to their final walk toward the student parking lot.

After initially settling with Plan B — a virtual graduation with a possibility of a future adjusted mid-summer graduation, the day ended with a class chat via Google Meet where the members of the Graduating Class of 2020 officially learned the good news: LCCTC will have an in-person graduation on their original date! Yes, the commencement program will not be exactly as originally planned months ago; however, just as the end to their final year of school has been referred to as an ”unprecedented event”, this class knows how to adapt to the situation — whatever it might be. And still they rise.