A graduation like no other: Austin and Pacelli held one-of-a-kind commencement exercises for the class of 2020

Published 8:10 pm Friday, June 5, 2020

By Eric Johnson

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For better or worse the graduating classes of 2020 will have a story to tell.

And yes, some of those stories will be negative beneath the shadow of COVID-19, but it can’t be said that every effort hasn’t been made to give seniors a memorable graduation despite the circumstances.

On Wednesday night, Pacelli celebrated its senior class of 2020 to the applause of honking car horns, while Friday night, Austin High School hosted a parade of seniors that started at Riverland Community College and eventually ended at Austin High School.

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It certainly wasn’t your typical example of graduation, but it was a capstone of a truly unique year for the graduates.

“We’re placed in many different situations — some good, some bad. Some are stressful, some are joyful,” said Jean McDermott, Pacelli president and principal. “What we do with each situation is a reflection of who we are.”

Rachel Nelsen was one of the three student speakers for Pacelli Wednesday night and while it wasn’t what she and her class were expecting, it was something to remember.

Obviously everyone was sad to not have a normal graduation, but we made the best out of the situation,” she said. “It was a really, really nice ceremony. I really felt it celebrated our class.”

However, Nelsen noticed a certain irony to this year’s class.

This year’s seniors were born just two years removed from Sept. 11, 2001.

“I thought that this is just kind of my luck,” Nelsen said. “Our class was born around 9-11 so it was fitting that the most important parts of graduation were interrupted by some other global issue.”

AHS Principal Andrea Malo has heard some of that and can see how it might stick with some students.

“I do think there are some that thought about that,” she said. “I watched my niece’s graduation (Friday) morning and that was talked about, students born on the heels of 9-11 and were now graduating in a pandemic.”

The moment schools across the state were ordered closed in March by Gov. Tim Walz’s executive order, there was no doubt schools were altered for the year with plenty of questions along the way.

One of those questions was always going to be graduation and what to do about it.

Later in the spring, as schools were beginning to formulate plans for what to do, the order was handed down that there were to be no large scale graduations allowed as the coronavirus continued to gain steam.

“Let’s just say a lot of decisions were being made and remade,” McDermott said. “We were going back to the drawing board more than we would choose.”

It was the same with Austin who was juggling the same problem, recognizing that even though they were able to hold a graduation of sorts it wasn’t what students and faculty were hoping for.

However, Malo also recognized how strong the seniors have been.

“It’s been heartbreaking,” she said. “I’ve been upset, mad — you go through a gambit of emotions. It’s really like a grieving process. You grieve for a tradition that should have been. As we move through, students have been really resilient. I think they are coming through on the other side in a good place. It’s not what we wanted and we’re certainly trying to make it as special as we can for them. This is one for record books.”

Austin senior Trent Varnadore was one of the first in the long line of graduates that twisted and turned through the streets of the community Friday night. According to counts, there were 223 cars that took part in the massive parade.

Varnadore, sitting on top of his family’s car, said he was disappointed but optimistic when thinking about what led up to the moment..

“I think it’s really unfortunate,” he said. “We were looking forward to making memories and finishing the year with friends. No doubt it’s not something as a graduate we thought we would be doing, but look at it … it’s super nice out.”

Austin’s night not only included the parade through town, but then students entered the process under an arch of balloons and moved forward to receive their diploma while having their pictures taken from the comfort of their vehicles.

Malo has been impressed and thankful with how many people have come together to make this a reality.

“It’s really been a community effort of support for our kids,” Malo said. “They’ve been doing things all week and for the last several weeks. The community has been so gracious.”

Both schools spent time putting in the necessary work to make sure the students were honored properly. Videos were made at each site and are currently online for people to watch.

Going back to Wednesday, Pacelli’s plan took the form of a drive-in, with each vehicle facing a temporary and modest stage in front of the school. From these vehicles the graduates and family members watched as faculty and student speakers gave their speeches, which were transmitted to a radio station that was broadcasting in an eight to 10 block radius.

That plan was put into play by Father Tim Biren out of St. Charles, who has been performing parking lot graduations with his transmitter and equipment throughout the graduation time of year.

By the end there was no doubt it had worked.

“What we came up with turned out far better than any of us ever imagined,” McDermott said. “It was a moving and honoring ceremony for everybody.”

Better, but not without some sadness.

“It was sad,” Nelsen said. “We were missing out on the best part of high school, but I understand it was to keep people safe.”

In both places staff spent plenty of time working with the seniors including at Pacelli where time was made to film each student walking down the aisle of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church and then edited together to create the video.

“There was a lot of extra time spent with our seniors,” McDermott said. “Staff like Laura Sheedy go the extra mile to show how important these students are to the people they have been with for the last few years.”

Austin’s video included names and pictures of the students and “Pomp and Circumstance” was also played as the students drove through.

What some administration officials have noticed is just how strong the seniors have been this year.

“These are kids that have volunteered in our community for hundreds of hours,” Malo said. “They have worked essential jobs, they’ve had to learn in a new way. Maybe they didn’t learn the textbook things we wanted them to, but they have learned so much about living in this pandemic world.”

“As they go forward they will do so with a different lens, a new perspective to guide the way, hopefully in a kinder and gentler way,” Malo added.

Varnadore shared that sentiment, especially when taking into account the work put into Austin’s ceremony. It showed him what people were capable of doing.

“The biggest thing is, no matter what, people will always find a way,” he said. “They will find a way.”

Through everything, McDermott hoped the students of Pacelli came out of it with a new feeling of the future.

“To place their trust in God,” she said. “He’s going to take care of you. The path he has for us to go on may not be the path we think we’re going.”

Nelsen chose to look at the situation with a bit of humor; however, as an adult 10 years down the line.

“I’m thinking we’re going to have some really funny stories to tell our kids,” she said with a laugh. “They’re going to want us to go outside and we’re tired and cranky and we’re going to say, ‘no you can stay inside. We were inside for three months and we weren’t able to do anything.’”

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