Images of the New Canaan Class of 2020
Senior photographs his classmates, separated by the coronavirus
Pablo Villa has always had a knack for creativity.
The New Canaan High School senior first came to the attention of TV broadcasting teacher Roman Cebulski during his sophomore year.
“You could tell right away that he had an interest in this area,” Cebulski said. “He would ask questions that you don’t typically get from a young student. He was a go-getter and his work was highquality. He would always contribute in some way.”
Villa went on to become a prized member of the NCHS student body, perhaps best-known for his work on the high school’s student-run television station, NCTV-79, and his many “hype” videos of various Rams sports teams.
COVID-19 shut down New Canaan schools in March, canceling sports, proms and the 2020 graduation ceremony. Even so, it never stopped Villa from thinking of new ways of contributing to the NCHS community.
“I have a friend in Indiana
who was taking some graduation photos, just for her friends,” Villa said. “Then this whole senior project idea came to light — I started thinking that maybe I should do that for the whole grade. Slideshows are not good enough for me. I think my grade deserves better. I decided I would take these photos, edit and send them to the families for their own uses and I’ll make a video by filming everyone at the end of the shoots doing their own unique thing.”
At first Villa thought only a hundred or so students would want to participate. As word spread about the project, so too did the interest. More than 260 seniors — about 90 percent of the entire class — ended up taking part in the project, which Villa began on May 24.
From 11:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Villa — with the help of friend Lauren Deligtisch — scheduled photo and video shoots of his classmates in their caps and gowns. The stills and clips showcase Villa’s ability to bring out the subject’s personalities, a direct result of his skill of putting them at ease during the sessions which last about 10 to 15 minutes.
“Some people jump into their pools or lakes or off their steps,” Villa said. “Some twins have their own handshakes or whatever they want to do. At first it was really stressful because I felt like I was just running around rushing everywhere. I just got a hang of how to deal with people and to adapt to where they are obviously. Some people have the perfect porch and the perfect lawn but other houses the sun might be really bad or we get partial shadows. I want to do my best with everybody, so I have to adapt to each family which has been a challenge.”
Once the shoots are complete for the day Villa goes into edit — working late into the night cropping and color-correcting the photos, while also piecing together the Senior Video.
“It’s going to be one cinematic video with everyone’s caps in the air at the end,” Villa said. “It’s looking really good. I’ve never teared up editing a video until this one. It really means a lot and I think everyone will appreciate it.”
Villa’s classmates already appreciate his efforts.
“Since we’re not getting the traditional graduation ceremony, it’s great that he’s doing this for our grade,” NCHS senior Hannah Suthons said. “It’s great to be able to put on our gowns and gets us in the mood of graduation. He’s giving a gift to each family in town to let us have this moment.”
“It wasn’t what we expected but it’s something unique,” fellow senior Thomas Suthons said. “It’s something that we will look back on that was really special and different.”
Special and different — two words that best describe Pablo Villa, who will be going on to study Aerospace Engineering at Purdue University in the fall.
“The most impressive thing to me about Pablo is that he is so fascinated with learning and trying new things,” Cebulski said. “He does these things because he is naturally inquisitive. He is on that next level of motivation.
When I think about what he’s done in our Career and Technology Education department with airplanes and drones in Engineering and the side work he’s done with videos and TV, he’s a kid you get once a decade. Whatever he puts his mind to, he’s going to do it.”
The project has given Villa himself a certain level of catharsis while coming to terms with the “new normal” the pandemic has dealt him and his classmates.
“I just really appreciate everybody’s cooperation and how the community really embraced this,” Villa said. “Everybody just instantly seemed really happy about it and I’m loving doing this. Its helping everyone cope with this. My hope in the beginning was that this would give everybody some kind of closure and I think I am accomplishing that as best as I can. I already have these skills so why not use them to give my grade something that they couldn’t have. I hope that they remember that these were good times. I just hope they remember that it wasn’t that bad, and we pushed through together.”