Trenton shows graduating seniors love with lawn signs outside of high school
TRENTON » You won’t catch her sleeping in during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trenton Central High School senior Charlene Richards has done her best to maintain a daily routine as if school was in session like normal.
That means getting up early each day and heading to the virtual classroom.
The quietude of mornings has allowed Richards to maintain a semblance of normality while cranking out her work as she and 415 other TCHS seniors approach the final days of their high-school careers, an experience altered by the public health crisis.
“I’m not used to remote learning,” the 17-year-old student said. “I would much rather do school work in a school environment.”
Richards is like thousands of students across the Garden State who was forced to adapt to life in times of the coronavirus.
Staving off the onset of senioritis that plagues some high school students in their last year was made tougher once Gov. Phil Murphy shuttered schools and later announced distance learning would continue for the remainder of the academic year.
Recognizing the drive to overcome those added difficulties, Trenton school officials saluted the class of 2020 Wednesday by putting up lawn signs with each graduating senior’s picture in front of the new Trenton Central High School, which opened in the fall.
“I finally found my sign, and when found it, I just felt so good inside,” said Richards, who will attend George Washington University in the fall on a full-ride scholarship, with plans of majoring in political science and minoring in journalism.
TCHS principal Hope Grant applauded the TCHS Alumni Association for helping pay for the signs for the graduates.
“We wanted to put a smile on their face for today,” she said. “We’re still Trenton High School. The class of 2020 is still here. These are our proud graduates.”
Mayor Reed Gusciora called the signs a “great tribute” for a class that will be remembered for enduring through unprecedented times.
The capital city as of Wednesday had more than 2,300 infections and 55 deaths from COVID-19.
In addition, Trenton, still under a 9 p.m. curfew, has been swept by a wave of violence. Thirteen people have been gunned down not even halfway through the year, with 10 of them coming since
Murphy enacted a stay-athome order March 21.
“This is an unusual year and an extraordinary time,” Gusciora said. “It’s important that they not be forgotten and that they not graduate without the fanfare that they all deserve. They went through 12 years ... This is real affirmation of all their hard work.”
After moving to Trenton as a freshman, Richards joined cheerleading, student council and hit the books hard.
She’ll graduate in the top 10 percent of her class, and has big ambitions after finishing college.
“I just want to bring a change into our world and our society,” Richards said. “Right now, we don’t really have positive people in office.”
Gusciora said many Trenton students “rise above the challenges” of growing up here.
“Trenton is a tough town. There’s a lot of challenges, both economically and crime-wise, looking for jobs to gathering the money and the resources to go to college,” he said. “To some degree, these are even hard workers because they have so much challenges to overcome.”
TCHS Alumni Association president Maria Jones called the lawns signs “a small tribute” that means more to the graduates.
“It’s not like walking across the stage. We know that,” she said. “But at least, here they’re seen; they’re shown as a family of one, as a unified group. It’s really us saying, ‘Thank you. You are the future. The path is laid out. Do what you will. But it starts here.’ They prevailed. They reached this point in spite of over three months of being homeschooled and having to do it on your own.”
School officials haven’t ruled out an in-person graduation ceremony after Murphy relaxed his stayat-home edict this week.
Interim Superintendent Ronald Lee said the capital city will do everything in its power to make the ceremony a reality.
“We’re going to try to do possibly to recognize them, celebrate them,” Lee said.
Finer details of what commencement will look like are being worked out, Grant said.
All school officials know for sure is that, if it goes forward, a commencement ceremony will be “outdoors.”
“It’ll be a little more challenging than other years,” Grant said. “But if it’s something we’re able to do, and is something that’s feasible, we’ll work within those challenges.”