Coronavirus Could Impact Graduations, South Florida High School Seniors Hold Out Hope
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Since schools have shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students have had no choice but to get accustomed to this new norm.
Maeve Donaher, a senior at Scheck Hillel Community School in North Miami Beach, said she and her classmates never imagined this virus would interfere with a day they have dreamed of - graduation.
"We started crying and we sang songs in a circle together. We were bringing in our last moments together on campus," she said.
With talks of graduation being done virtually instead, Donaher said she's heard from her classmates who want her mother, who is Head of School, to consider options.
"To think that we weren't going to have our graduation, everyone has been texting me and asking me to ask my mom if she can postpone it and ask if we can even do it when we are in college and come back. Anything possible," she said.
Donaher and her senior class have begged the school to hold off on a decision to cancel their graduation celebration.
"They have been heard. So we are going to wait for as long as we can. Doing it virtually won't be the same," said Maeve's mother Vanessa Donaher.
The seniors didn't just raise their voices, but came together in a time of crisis, taking matters into their own hands, and continuing their senior activities online.
"They have been doing it naturally and organically and we have been watching," said Vanessa Donaher.
Through Zoom, this senior class has been adding more memories to the last days of their senior year.
"Like Netflix parties and games online that you can play. Anything to keep in touch," said Mave Donaher.
Their rabbi has even joined in on the fun by singing for his students.
"It sounded like a concert in her room the other night and I went in and opened the door and I saw 80 little screens," said Vanessa Donaher.
The seniors are holding out hope that they will be able to walk across a stage and turn their tassels together as the Scheck Hillel Community School Class of 2020.
"Well, I guess if we had to have it online we would be okay with it and we would make the most out of it. But it just wouldn't be the same," said Mave Donaher.
The Archdiocese of Miami and the public school districts of Miami-Dade and Broward have not made a decision on their graduation plans.
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