Isolated at home during the coronavirus pandemic with almost no chance for a prom or graduation ceremony, Eagle Rock High School senior Lincoln Debenham had an idea.
He tweeted a message to former President Barack Obama, asking if he would record a national commencement speech to encourage the Class of 2020. A few days later, the tweet — liked 223,000 times — was picked up by ABC News and CNN and reached Obama, who reportedly was “very flattered” but made no commitment, Debenham said.
“We experienced his administration for eight out of 12 years, from elementary school through high school. That man, for so many, was our role model and set standards for our adulthood,” Debenham said in an email Wednesday, April 22.
Hi @BarackObama! Like most high school/college seniors, I’m saddened by the loss of milestone events, prom & graduation. In an unprecedented time, it would give us great comfort to hear your voice. We ask you to consider giving a national commencement speech to the class of 2020.
— Lincoln (@lincolnjackd) April 15, 2020
Debenham isn’t the only one trying to find creative ways to recognize high school seniors missing out on proms, awards ceremonies and commencement canceled or postponed by school closures and other efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus. From celebrity-led dance parties to drive-thru ceremonies to salutes with stadium lights — students and school administrators across Southern California have launched alternatives to the traditional events that have marked the end of high school for generations.
While Obama spent his early college years at Occidental College, just down the road from his school, Debenham said that wasn’t a factor in his ask. What he and others interviewed for this story say they want is affirmation — now possible only through an alternative experience that may never fill the void.
Some schools are turning to celebrities to provide a ray of hope.
While Obama may or may not give a graduation speech, at Walnut High School, “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest will.
The TV and radio celebrity has agreed to send a video message for the 588 high schoolers graduating this spring at their virtual recognition ceremony on May 28.
At Social Justice Humanitas Academy in the city of San Fernando, Principal Jeff Austin is calling on Hollywood folks who’ve supported the school in the past.
“We are getting B-list celebrities to call students to say congratulations on graduating,” Austin said. “Having people outside of their family reach out to them is important.”
A few dozen high school student body presidents started a group two weeks ago on Instagram @caclassof2020. The group now uses five social media platforms to host virtual events, including a recent Pajama Day on Instagram that attracted 50 students who posted pictures of themselves wearing their favorite PJs.
“We are definitely trying to spread positivity as much as possible,” explained Alex Wick, outreach coordinator and Associated Student Body president of her school, Bayhill High School, in Berkeley. “Just by doing silly things, it gives people something to take their minds off everything that’s going on.”
Keeping the Class of 2020 connected, especially when they can’t go to prom or graduation, is the group’s objective. They got actor John Krasinski, who played Jim from the TV sitcom “The Office,” to post a virtual prom video on Instagram. CA Class of 2020 is working on creating a virtual graduation ceremony for next month, Wick said.
“The point of it is just to do fun things so people don’t feel like they are missing out on everything,” she said.
Kelei Bishop, 18, is a senior at North High School in Torrance and played point guard for the boy’s varsity basketball team. Though graduation scheduled for June 10 has not officially been canceled, all signs point to it not happening, he said.
“It’s upsetting. I’m devastated not having a graduation ceremony,” Bishop said during a break from online class work on Wednesday, April 22. “It is something you look forward to when you first start high school.”
Aaron Hernandez, a senior at Rancho Cucamonga High School, said he has learned to face the reality that a May 20 public commencement will not happen, though there’s talk of doing it in late summer or early fall, if it’s safe.
For other seniors, it has hit them hard. “One of my friends that we always hung out with, he will not talk. He is struggling with this isolation,” Hernandez said.
For Generation Z, social media is often their go-to for communication. They use texting, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to express themselves. Some use FaceTime or Facebook Messenger for video calls.
Social media platforms also are playing a role in many school districts’ efforts to boost the spirits of their senior classes.
• Montclair High School seniors are asked to submit videos listing their most inspirational teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade. A video montage will be posted on the school’s website.
• At Colony High School in Ontario, graduating students will receive a student awards booklet in the mail. Each will contain a QR code that will download a personalized video message from teachers and staff. “It will be something they can hang on to forever,” said Tom Mitchell, interim principal.
• For its continuation school graduates, Riverside County Office of Education will be asking them to drive up and pick up their cap and gown, put them on in the parking lot, and take a photo that will be used in a virtual graduation video shown on May 20-21 on Zoom and YouTube, said spokesman Craig Petinak.
Some schools have used their YouTube channels to deliver humorous messages.
Esperanza High School in Anaheim, part of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, began posting YouTube videos as part of its virtual student appreciation pep rally.
The video shows the top 10 students with the most community service hours picking up dirty laundry, gardening and doing other household chores, including Analisa Salvado, with 1,010.25 hours, shown stacking toilet paper rolls.
Faculty from Blair High School, part of the Pasadena Unified School District, posted a dance video to Drake’s smash hit “Toosie Slide.” The teachers and Principal David Ibarra came up with the idea on the night the senior prom was canceled, said Hilda Ramirez Horvath, spokesperson.
Yard signs are being delivered to students at many districts. Placentia-Yorba Linda began distributing theirs on Wednesday. Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana gave signs to all seniors. Paloma Valley High School in Menifee used 100 staff volunteers to deliver yard signs to 642 seniors.
On Friday, April 24, Mater Dei held a drive-thru ceremony for its 4.0 students. The staff handed out stoles or sashes normally worn during graduation, said Parker Shoaff, spokesman.
School principal Francis Clare said Friday it was important to keep the tradition going, albeit in a different format, for the 200 high school seniors who achieved a 4.0 or higher GPA.
“It’s very, very important to the students that we recognize their hard work over four years,” Clare said, “and this year is extraordinary but they’re still a remarkable class so we wanted to recognize them.”
Students who participated Friday said it’s been hard missing out on the usual end-of-high school celebrations but seeing school officials line up and cheering for them helped ease some of the sting.
“It’s kinda tough not to have a tradition that every senior gets to go through,” said Abbie Harris, who plans to study screenwriting next year at Loyola Marymount University. “But it means a lot that they’re making a really great effort to show appreciation for us because all of us seniors worked really hard.”
At the eight high school stadiums of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District in the Rancho Cucamonga area, meanwhile, the football stadium lights are turned on every night for 20 minutes at 8:20 p.m., which is 20:20 in military time, in honor of the Class of 2020, said Mathew Holton, superintendent.
He got the idea from schools in Tempe, Arizona, he said. Now, schools in Ohio are also doing the same.
CJUHSD Class of 2020! To honor you the lights at all our stadiums will shine for 20 min at 8:20pm (20:20 military time) until the end of the year! #thxfortheideaTempe! pic.twitter.com/OdDKdbyaGY
— Supt. Mat Holton (@CJUHSD) April 14, 2020
“People from all over can see them,” Holton said. The district also is handing out personalized yard signs. Some teachers are dropping off flowers and gifts to seniors, he said. Parents are decorating their front doors with pictures of their sons or daughters festooned with school colors.
May 20 and May 21 graduation nights are most likely canceled, Holton indicated. But he’s not ruling out holding graduation gatherings in the summer.
Romualdo Sanchez, 17, a senior at Colony High School in Ontario, part of Chaffey Joint Unified, said he’s talked to many students as a video reporter for ONZ, a Facebook news channel. While he appreciates the lighting of the stadiums, he said it hasn’t cured students of their feelings they’ve been robbed of precious high school memories by the coronavirus.
“We all dreamed of being able to walk the stage and having your loved ones cheer you on,” he said. “Now, it is like someone dropped a bucket of cold water over you. There is a lot of frustration, anger and sadness.”
Staff writers Jeff Gritchen and Roxana Kopetman contributed to this article.