High School Graduation During Covid

Erin Chadbourne giving speech on stage to families in cars.

Portland High School's Class of 2020 graduation in Ocean Gateway parking lot.

The image I chose to portray how covid affected education is an image from my high school graduation. My school decided to do a drive-in style graduation, in a big parking lot by the water. We couldn’t have had a better night for it. Doing the ceremony outside gave everyone the chance to walk across stage and accept their diploma, all the while being socially distant. As president of my class, I had the opportunity to give a speech to my fellow classmates. As shown in the photo, I was basically speaking to a bunch of cars. It was very strange. I was unable to see the faces of my peers, but it was special nonetheless. It gave me the chance to say goodbye to everyone before we went our separate ways; something I was unable to do when we left on a random Friday. I feel like this graduation ceremony embodies the way my school handled Covid. It was no where near perfect, but they tried their best to make it as fun as possible. There was no way that the year could be “normal”. There were definitely many fails in their attempts to make it the best, but they still tried their hardest and that is all that matters in my opinion. My last semester of high school was definitely a let down, but it taught me to not take things for granted. Even if it’s just waking up at six in the morning to go to a long day of school. You will never realize what you miss until it’s gone.

Derek Davis

Portland Press Herald

Erin Chadbourne

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