Receiving their diplomas. Dancing with their closest friends at prom. Having the privilege of skipping their final exams of high school.

Events such as prom, senior honors night, graduation, and many other iconic end-of-school events are long-lasting memories that many graduates have of their last months of high school. Due to COVID-19 however, the class of 2020 is missing out on regular memorable end-of-school events.

“It’s very sad for all of us to have made it all the way through high school just to have the most highly anticipated parts of it taken away,”  Isabella Christopherson, senior varsity poms captain, said.

There are plans to have these major events rescheduled, according to an April 24 letter from Dr. Kelley Gallt, superintendent, but keeping students and their families safe is more important than these events. “As [District 95] continues to look forward and plan for various scenarios, we always consider and prioritize what is best for our students,” Gallt wrote, a sentiment Christopherson can agree with.

“It was definitely the right thing to do for the well-being and safety of everyone in our community,” Christopherson said. “I was very happy with the administration’s fast decision to provide alternate dates for us to experience these milestones because a lot of schools completely canceled their ceremonies.”

Annie Gross, senior, also agrees that it is better to have late graduation since,” We can continue more normally next year in college [for current seniors] or back in high school.”

Social distancing has been used to slow the spread of COVID-19, and students would prefer to have their ceremonies when it safe to reopen versus opening up too soon and causing an increase in coronavirus cases, which is an opinion Christopherson agrees with.

“I’m grateful that even though it is not traditional, [we are] having these ceremonies in July to celebrate all of our accomplishments with friends and family,” Christopherson said.

Even though seniors are not having normal graduation, there are ways that the high school has made an effort to specially recognize seniors. Signs in each senior’s yard is just one way that seniors are being recognized for their hard work. Teachers also created a video to congratulate the seniors.

“[The teachers] wanted to share our gratitude and appreciation for the 2020 Seniors and be sure that they knew how much we will truly miss them at LZHS,” Carlye Hamiton, Spanish teacher, said.  Our inspiration was the overwhelming excitement among faculty to put something together that would celebrate their accomplishments and hopefully bring a smile to each student’s face while watching the video to let them know that we are thinking of them.”

All across the world, people are finding many new and unique ways to congratulate their classes of 2020, from having reverse graduations to having many famous people giving commencement speeches such as Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Lebron James. Making the class of 2020 happy is a goal that many teachers tried to overtake, and Gross, along with many seniors, are thankful for the work that everyone has done

“It’s cool to see the way people are trying to still honor the seniors in these weird times,” Gross said.