While the rest of the year being canceled is a major bummer for all of us, the seniors have had an especially difficult time coping with the radical transformation of their final year of high school. Thirteen years of education all culminating in a year full of milestones that they have been looking forward to since they were kids: senior trips, prom, and of course, the illustrious graduation ceremony where diplomas are received, and caps are thrown to the sky in celebration! Unfortunately, these plans have largely been dashed for our 2020 graduating class, and I know my seniors have been hard-hit by the disappointment accompanying this realization.

I know that the school district and Sahuaro administrators are doing everything possible to ensure that seniors will be graduating on time, and I hope that they are working on an alternative graduation event that perhaps students can attend remotely. I imagine this next month will bring lots of interesting new developments about how our community will improvise, adapt, and overcome the many obstacles COVID 19 has dropped into our lives.

At a time when a global pandemic has made physical interaction nearly impossible, we must take advantage of the technology at our disposal to continue our social interaction with one another, staying together as a community during this potentially isolating time. I am optimistic that students will begin interacting online through Zoom with their friends and peers from school, maybe eventually even hosting virtual mini proms with their friends on their own, outside of school hours. The biggest loss will be if we let the good times end on March 19th, instead of fighting to keep forming memories with our friends and colleagues that we will look back fondly when remembering this challenging bit of history that we all weathered as one!