By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews.com
WALDPORT — When the coronavirus pandemic closed Waldport High School nearly three months ago, no one had a clue what the future held for anything close to a “normal” graduation for the school’s 37-member senior class.
But several mountain’s worth of learning curves have been scaled since then, paving the way for Friday night’s first “virtual” graduation of Waldport’s seniors.
“Obviously, we all wish we’d gotten proper goodbyes with our friends,” said senior Karissa Punneo. “But while this is a far, far different experience than any of us ever expected, so many people have come together to make this as good an outcome as anyone could have asked for.”
Three months ago, plans were still in full swing for graduates to wave to cheering family and friends Friday night as they walked across the stage in the school’s auditorium to receive their diplomas.
Other hallmarks of graduation would already have been held: senior prom, senior skip day, the annual senior prank.
Immediately following graduation, seniors – not knowing where they’d be going – would have trooped onto a bus for an annual trip financed by a year’s worth of fundraising. This year, that was supposed to be driving all night to San Francisco, where they’d tour a candy factory, hear a live band and figure out how to spend their gift cards.
Coronavirus pulled the plug on all of that.
Instead, teachers, administrators and parent boosters set about assembling a plan to make the best of a dramatically changed situation.
“None of us has been trained to even think this way,” said Steve Cooper, the high school’s vice principal and athletic director. “But all of these kids deserve a true graduation experience, and we’ve worked really hard to deliver on that promise.”
Abrupt change in plans
Here’s what Cooper and a small army of volunteers came up with:
Graduating seniors, standing next to cardboard cutouts of their teachers, will receive diplomas in video-taped proceedings that will be compiled for later viewing.
Teachers, in turn, will be filmed delivering personalized tributes to each student. The video, engineered by teacher Philip Reed will later be released on YouTube so out-of-town family members can tune in.
The links to the graduation, scholarship award ceremony, and eighth-grade promotion will be available on the high school’s website when they are ready.
A ‘virtual’ prom was held May 27, during which class awards and recognitions were announced.
In another effort spearheaded by Reed, every graduating senior received a lawn sign with their photograph on it. Teachers distributed the signs during a Yachats-to-Seal Rock drive-by of every senior’s house, honking and cheering all along the route.
And every Wednesday night for the past two months, Cooper has switched on the lights at the high school’s football field at precisely 8:20 p.m. In military time that’s 2020, a figure matching the year this class graduates.
Cooper’s theme has been “Be the Light,” and different student sports teams and academic groups – National Honor Society, student council, drama, music and forestry clubs among them — have been highlighted each week.
“Being a smaller schools affords you some options a bigger school probably couldn’t do,” Cooper said. “We’ve really tried to make this unique but meaningful and as close to traditional as possible.”
Wednesday night was the last of the weekly ceremonies during which Principal Amy Skirvin addressed seniors and acknowledged what they had missed the past three months — the prom, trips, extracurricular activities, even before-class goofing off and discussions. She said seniors would be invited back as special guests for homecoming in the fall.
“I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through for the past three months … I’m sorry for that,” Skirvin said. “We care about you and love you so much. You guys deserve way more than we could ever give you.”
Parents improvise, learn too
Every year, a senior parent group forms as a non-profit to help with fundraising and other activities. Parents Greg and Sheila Dunn, whose son, Conner, is a member of the 2020 class, took the lead this year.
With school cancelled, one of their first efforts was to hang banners on light poles along U.S. Highway 101 through downtown honoring each senior. However, the Oregon Department of Transportation denied their request, citing agency policy prohibiting photographs or peoples’ names on state highway rights-of-ways.
Even before the Dunns could contact local officials to help, transportation officials called back. Turns out the light poles in question are one foot off the right of way, and are owned by the city.
“So we paid $2,000 for the banners, received cones and signs from the city to help with installation and got an assist from local firefighters to aid in traffic control,” Greg Dunn said. “So, really, we were dealing with just the sort of things our graduates are. The real lesson is ‘Things may fall in your path, but don’t give up. Find a way around it’.”
Senior Mackayla Tokar is already taking education classes at Oregon Coast Community College with an eye on becoming a teacher. She said her heart breaks for all that members of her class have lost by not receiving a traditional graduation.
But the totality of the experience, Tokart said, assures her that everything will be all right moving ahead.
“There have been challenges, but everyone has really put their heads down to make this as memorable as possible,” she said. “I just love this senior class so much and I know we’re all going to be some really great things with our lives.”
— Dana Tims is a YachatsNews freelance reporter who can be reached at danatims24@gmail.com
Waldport High School Class of 2020
Waldport High School staff has been posting profiles of graduating seniors on the school’s Facebook page. Not every graduate submitted information to the school; here is an edited version of those who did and advice to other students.
Lilly Waterman: Plans to attend cosmetology school in Klamath Falls. Advice: Always read your books for Scharp’s class.
Monique Aradoz: Plans on attending cosmetology school and, eventually, becoming a small business owner. Advice: Don’t focus on what everyone thinks of you; just be yourself and you’ll be so much happier.
Kyler St. Clair: Plans to move to Astoria to enroll in an electrician’s program. His favorite memory from high school was the overnight lock-in last year.
Heidy Vera: Plans to attend Oregon Coast Community College to pursue a nursing degree. Advice: Do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone to make memories.
Jaclyn Howard: Plans to attend Oregon Coast Community College and transfer to Western Oregon University to study nursing.
Trinity Holt: Plans to attend Oregon Coast Community College to earn her transfer degree, then pursue a degree to become a special education teacher. Advice: Get all of your stuff done early on so your senior year is a breeze.
Kyralyn Pickner: Plans to attend Chemeketa Community College where she will also play softball, then go to Linfield to study to be a nurse. Advice: Sit back and look around you, soak up your surroundings. Don’t stress the little things because everything will work out the way it should.
Jacob Patton: Plans to enlist in the Marines as a mechanic.
Jessica Depasquale: Plans to attend the University of Oregon to become a psychologist. She praised her parents for their continuous support, and every teacher that has taken the time to help her.
Fabio Galante: A foreign exchange student from Italy, Galante plans to attend the University of Milan to study engineering.
Mackayla Tokar: Plans to attend Oregon Coast Community College and then transfer to Oregon State University to earn her teaching license. Advice: Don’t take anything for granted while in high school because it goes by so quickly.
Kiersten Piontek: Plans to attend Lane Community College to study nursing. Advice: Do your homework right when you get home so you can relax at night. “Trust me, you’ll thank me later.”
Treven Shepherd: Plans to travel and explore. He thanked Mr. Skirvin for “making him get his stuff together.”
Baylee Dieckhoff: Plans to attend community college to study business. Advice: Listen to the lyrics of “The Nights” by Avicii.
Dartanyon Brain: Plans to attend trade school to become a carpenter. Advice: Get in the habit of doing your homework.
Chas Walch: Plans to attend Chemeketa Community College to play softball and then eventually become an English professor. Advice: Take pictures because everything happens so fast, it’s hard to remember all of the amazing things you did.
Emma (Rivers) Bouchat: Plans to attend Southwestern Oregon Community College to study paramedicine and become a critical care nurse. Advice: High school isn’t everything, so don’t worry about it.
Connor Dunn: Plans to attend Western Oregon University to pursue a career in emergency services. Advice: Know to always yourself and always think long term.
Karissa Punneo: Plans to attend George Fox University to pursue a career in chiropractic or osteopathy. Advice: Get involved and get to know people, as that will open up opportunities you can’t imagine.
Braxton King: Plans to attend Oregon Coast Community College and then OSU to study robotic engineering. Advice: Take time to try new things because time will fly by.
Jonathon Yelm: Plans to purchase music equipment to pursue producing. Advice: Get As and Bs because it is good for your GPA.
Zachary McReynolds: Plans to attend college to pursue a career in mechanical engineering. Advice: Don’t do inappropriate things at school.
Noah Carlson: Plans to someday attend college and hopes to pursue a career as a gaming developer. Advice: Always be kind to one another.
Gage Stephensen: Plans to attend Oregon Coast Community College and then go to flight school to become a helicopter pilot. Advice: Don’t worry about things. “I didn’t worry for more than 5 minutes over the course of four years and had an absolute blast.”
Austyn Hallock: Plans to pursue a career as a commercial fisherman in Alaska. Advice: Show up on time and bring Mr. Skirvin a black coffee with a little honey in it and a doughnut.
Ben Estrada: Plans to become a flight attendant for Delta Airlines. Advice: Enjoy high school, because it doesn’t last forever.
Kolby Albitz: He has enlisted in the U.S. Army and reports to basic training in July. Advice: Do your best in your core classes.
Dalton Estelle: Plans to travel the world and start his own business. Advice: Enjoy the little things, and stay on top of your homework.
Jesse McCoy: Plans to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. Favorite memory: the forestry competition and foreign exchange student Fabio Galante.
Alyssa Dewane: Plans on getting her license and a job. Advice to the volleyball team: Don’t forget to play for fun and smile through your mistakes.
Michael Woolfolk: Hopes to start a career in law enforcement. Advice: Keep your grades up and turn in assignments on time!
Shayla Cooper: Plans to go to community college for two years, and then study phlebotomy. Advice: Keep your goofy childhood years as long as you can, because they soon will be gone.