Uxbridge High School celebrates Class of 2020
UXBRIDGE – While it wasn’t the graduation celebration they had envisioned, the 106 members of the Uxbridge High School graduating Class of 2020 were finally able to celebrate their academic achievements Saturday at a live ceremony held nearly two months after school officially ended.
Instead of a drive-through or virtual graduation ceremony as other school districts have done, the Uxbridge school community bid bon voyage to the graduates with a live ceremony just after dusk at the high school parking lot where immediate family members only parked in assigned spots to watch the
robed graduates in the traditional Spartans colors of black and orange walk across an outdoor stage.
The traditional high school graduation held inside the school gymnasium is typical ly able to accommodate up to
members of each gradu ate’s family, but this year due to &29I' , the ceremony was open to immediate family members only. The district set up an online ticketing system that enabled families to pick their spot and arrive at a pre determined time.
6ome families set up beach and folding chairs around their cars, mindful of staying within six feet of another ve hicle. There were also view ing screens and an audio sys tem so those in the parking lot could watch as the graduates were called to the stage one by one.
$ll attendees wore wear face masks, including school officials who were on the stage, and those making speeches.
It was a night that acknowl edged the graduates’ strength, courage and resiliency in the face of unprecedented global pandemic that forced them to adapt to distance learning and other changes as they wrapped up their four year high school journey.
“$lthough did not amount to what we expected it to, and your class faced more adversity than most classes ever have, you must not let that erase your pride,” th Worcester 'istrict state 5ep. Michael J. 6oter told the grad uates. “ “ “&onsidering that this is a day that many of us thought would never come there is a particular poignancy to speaking at graduation this year,” 3rincipal Michael 5u bin said in his speech to the graduates. “2ver the past few months, I read a lot of posts, hundreds of emails, lots of articles, and more than one comment from my colleagues that spoke about everything that the &lass of lost in the past few months. I, on the other hand, and perhaps contrary to my often pessimistic and cyn ical nature, started to think of things in terms of all we had gained.” Dubin said the Class of experienced the existential crisis of a generation. “All of the opportuni ties you had for connection were suddenly swept away,” he said. “Three weeks be came three months, and three months became defined by all that was lost and all that you didn’t have. That senior sea son, the musical, the prom, se nior trips - those were the big things. %ut gone too were the little things, simple classroom interactions, hallway chatter, banter in the classroom, all of which were reduced to texts, Zoom calls, emails, TikToks, and pixels.” “And yet, ironically, as we emphasized connection, you found that you had people you really cared about, and those, like our faculty, who tried desperately to keep you connected,” he said. “These are difficult times,” 5ubin said. “We are, after all, graduating in a parking lot in July. $s a class, this is your first time together in one place since )ebruary, and, in all likelihood, it will be your last time together. We are wearing masks, we are not in the gym, and one of my single biggest joys as a prin cipal, symbolic as it may be, of handing you a diploma and shaking your hands, has been taken from the day. $nd yet, as my grandparents spoke of what they did not have, these have given me a renewed sense of appreciation for all that I had taken for granted.” “It is my hope that these past few months will do the same for you as you step in your next great adven tures,” he said. “3eople can not achieve transformation overnight ± but it is my hope that, from this time, from your time at 8+6, and from the time you had and the time you lost that you continue to evolve and keep alive trans formations you desire in yourselves.” In her speech, &lass of Salutatorian .risten %angma talked about expec tations and how many in the graduating &lass of had been expecting “an easy sec ond semester of senior year, an unforgettable prom, senior week, a last day of school, and a real graduation.” “When these things were taken away from us, it was devastating,” she said. “Many of us did not even attend our last day of in person class es, while others cannot even remember what happened on that particular )riday in March. When we first found out that school might be get ting canceled for two weeks, many were excited. With our last weeks of high school sud denly and without warning taken from us, many of us are sad at what we lost, myself included.” %angma asked her fellow graduates to also remember what they gained over the past few months. “$lthough our expecta tions were completely shat tered, we are lucky,” she said. “We experienced almost all of our childhood education unin terrupted by anything. +ow ever, the same cannot be said for the younger children in elementary, middle, and high school. We do not know what will happen in the coming weeks, months, and years, but we only missed out on a few months. These children may miss out on years of in person schooling and friendships. %e grateful for what we have had and learn from this sad but unique experience.” %angma said while the &29I' pandemic changed everyone’s lives, there was much to be gained from the experience. “We got extra time with our siblings and families be fore we go off to college. We got more family dinners and more nights with our par ents and we got more time to spend with some of the people we love most in this world,” she said. “6o, we have gained much more than we have lost.” %angma urged the gradu ates to be part of a world that is ever changing. “We are the new genera tion. We have the power to change the country. We will be the ones who shape the world,” she said. “$lthough our expectations for this day were very different, that does not make this accomplish ment any less important. We did it. We graduated in the middle of a pandemic that our grandchildren and genera tions to come will learn about in their textbooks one day.” In her speech, &lass of Valedictorian Ashley Greene talked about how spe cial the &lass of is how much of an impact her fellow graduates had on her own life. “This class means more to me than you could know. To me it feels more like I’ll be leaving a family instead of just a group of students from a high school,” she said. Greene also talked about how the pandemic changed everyone’s lives. “I was excited to be seniors with all of you. I was ready to move past the stage of college applications and finally cel ebrate like we all deserved, but life had a different plan in store for us,” she said. “/ife decided that in the time when we wanted to be together the most, we had to be apart. This pandemic came unexpected ly into our life and changed things, forcing all of us to be flexible.” She said the moral of the story is that life is unpredictable. “6o many changes hap pen that you can’t predict and just have to deal with when they come to you. I mean even the class with vi sion didn’t see this one com ing,” she said. Green spoke of her late fa ther who died . “I was getting a ride home from a soccer game. 2ur soc cer team just lost semifinals and I was pretty bummed just wanting to be home and able to vent or take a nap,” she said. “What I didn’t know at the time was that I would be walking into my house, greet ed by my mom in tears, hear ing the news that my father was dying.” “My dad was someone that loved life and truly embraced it,” she said. “I was in awe of how he was so comfortable in his own skin and how no matter what was thrown at him he deflected it. Just like no one expected our senior year to end with a pandem ic, I never thought I would be losing my father that day. I always thought a miracle would come and grant my family more time, but as we know life isn’t that generous and life is hard.” *reene talked about how her father always told her that it’s the little things in life that are the most important. “Class of , I hope that despite your challenges, you can really think of the little things to get you through it,” she said. “Whatever that sim ple memory may be in your life that makes the downs seem worth it, hang onto them and keep them close in mind.” She surprised the gradu ates telling that under each of their chairs was a small bag of Hershey kisses, which were her father’s favorite candy. “Maybe this could be your happy memory. I’m so proud of all of you,” she said. “I’m so proud of how resilient we have shown this world we can be. Just like my dad who wouldn’t let some cancer knock him down without a fight, we won’t let the world diminish this amazing mile stone in front of us.”