Right, Graduate Abigail Millbach laughs as she blows a kazoo Friday during Ledyard High School’s drive-in graduation.
“I like it because you’re here. I like it because we’re all here together.” LEDYARD PRINCIPAL AMANDA FAGAN
Ledyard High School’s parking lot Friday was the fullest it has been since in-person classes ended abruptly March 13, as family cars decked out with balloons assembled to honor the 183 members of the Class of 2020.
“It’s not what we had planned or pictured, but it’s something. It’s something far better than a diploma in a mailbox,” Principal Amanda Fagan said, with a live FM feed of the night’s speeches transmitting into each car’s radio. “I like it because you’re here. I like it because we’re all here together.”
While the traditional musical performances had to be replaced with recordings, the evening celebrated the togetherness cited by several student speakers as a strength of their class.
“We made it through what may have felt like one of the most frustrating school years ever,” said Ally Tran. “I can’t help but think that maybe it was meant to be. Maybe it happened to us because we were the only class strong enough to make it through, the only group that could stick together as one in times of confusion and struggle.”
The ceremony honored two members of the Class of 2020 who died, Liberty Drury and Conor Irwin, both of whom now have graduation awards named in their memory. In his memoriam speech, Gabe Watrous said Irwin was like a brother to him, recalling his fun-loving friend’s glowing personality.
“He would have thought that graduating in the parking lot was awesome,” Watrous said. “He probably would be proudly sitting in a Volkswagen bus.”
Noah Cayangyang also recognized Irwin in his speech, remembering the time students wore bow-ties and green, Irwin’s signature accessory and favorite color, to honor him and comfort one another.
“I moved to Ledyard at the beginning of eighth grade, just before our four years of high school, and looking back, I could not have asked for a better class to be a part of,” he said. “This class has proven that we can come together and work as one, that we can stick together and help each other in our toughest times.”
Olivia Crawford and Karissa Paul, sharing a speech from separate podiums in the parking lot, compared the shock of leaving school in the middle of a pandemic to a scene in the movie “Frozen,” where the snowman Olaf walks into a protruding icicle and says, “Oh, look at that. I’ve been impaled.”
They recalled the phases each student moves through in high school, from lost freshman to the dreaded “senioritis,” and they noted how easy it had been to forget how lucky they were to be together as a class for most of their high school years.
Class President Erin Tolles noted the pandemic was an extra push for the Class of 2020 to grow up and that some good did come out of it.
“It was a big change for all of us, but we came out stronger, and we came out as independent young adults,” she said. “It’s the little things, like ‘adopt-a-senior,’ or the sign fairy, or the way our teachers check in with us during a weekly Zoom call, that make me realize just how strong we are as a school.”
Wesley Hughes said that he, like many others, can find something in high school that he regrets doing or not doing, and he cautioned his classmates against regretting their past decisions and mistakes.
“I know that every one of you sitting out here today has had good memories. It is your choice to remember them and take them with you wherever you may go,” he said. “I challenge you to look around you and bask in the presence of the present. Take hold of the good things in your life.”