High school seniors cope with uncertainty in final year
Photo courtesy of Lizzie Silassy
Edward Silassy, of North Strabane, and his daughter, Lizzie, a high school senior at Canon-McMillan, got these tattoos, “Just Keep Smiling,” at the beginning of the school year.
Photo courtesy of Lizzie Silassy
Canon-McMillan senior Lizzie Silassy, of North Strabane, handles a snake during a zoology and environmental science class taught by Chelsea Geist.
Photo courtesy of Milana Sacco
Milana Sacco, right, and Josh Anderson, both seniors at Monessen High School, practice a theater performance on stage.
Photo courtesy of Milana Sacco
Third from left, Milana Sacco, stands with other Monessen High School seniors involved in the band.
Photo courtesy of Madeline Heiser
Chartiers-Houston seniors involved with the Charettes dance group hold up a 2020 sign.
Photo courtesy of Madeline Heiser
Madeline Heiser, center, and twin sisters Emma Conaway, left, and Hayley Conaway are three Chartiers-Houston seniors hoping to have a commencement ceremony this year.
Photo courtesy of Madeline Heiser
Chartiers-Houston seniors Madeline Heiser, center, and twin sisters Emma Conaway, right, and Hayley Conaway hope to have a commencement ceremony this year.
Photo courtesy of Carly Whitfield
The Chartiers-Houston High School musical “Beauty and the Beast” has been postponed. From left are seniors Gabriela Summers, Carly Whitfield, Michael Buchta and Sara Herriott.
For years, Lizzie Silassy, 18, of North Strabane, has dreamed of the day she’d walk across the stage to receive her high school diploma from Canon-McMillan. Since the school closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak, that dream might not come true.
“Graduation has always been a big deal for my family,” she said. “We have a large family, and it’s something everyone looks forward to and celebrates.”
Gov. Tom Wolf closed Pennsylvania’s schools March 13, and Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said they won’t reopen to students until at least April 9. Though local districts have not yet canceled commencement ceremonies or prom, seniors are worried they’ll miss out on those most memorable moments of the final chapter of high school.
“I’m nervous they’re not going to have graduation and just give us our diplomas,” Silassy said. “I’ve canceled a lot of plans with friends and family to work toward graduation. It’s a pretty big milestone.”
Silassy said she’s also worried about prom being canceled along with other events. Her class trip to Washington, D.C., on April 24 was canceled. They were supposed to visit the White House and several museums.
Silassy is also missing the everyday of class, and seeing the friends and teachers she’s had by her side the last four years.
“I knew that after graduation I’d probably not see a lot of my friends anymore,” she said. “I thought I would be seeing them every day, and I haven’t been able to make my last memories with them.”
Jaden Ellis, a Washington High School senior, is worried about graduating on time and how she’ll make up the school work missed in the last two weeks. She expects to start attending Pittsburgh Technical College July 23, so she’s using this free time to file for financial aid and set up classes and housing.
“I’ve been working on my college plans,” she said.
Madeline Heiser, a senior at Chartiers-Houston, 17, said that so far, her scholarships or plans to attend Washington & Jefferson College in the fall have not been affected, but she fears they could be.
“I’m hoping this is over before my freshman year starts,” she said.
Heiser and Carly Whitfield, another senior from Houston, are members of the school’s Charettes dance group. The group was supposed to travel to Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla.,, but that got canceled, Whitfield said, along with her trip to Washington, D.C.
Whitfield said she had already purchased a prom dress and will still get pictures taken, even if the event is canceled. She, too, doesn’t want to miss out on commencement, but among her greatest concerns is that her school play will be canceled. They were to perform “Beauty and the Beast” March 20, but that was postponed until late April, for now.
“I’m involved in my school musical, and I have been since fifth grade,” she said. “We just worked so hard on it. I’m worried that we’re not going to be able to go back to school, and it’s all going to get canceled.”
Whitfield’s not alone. For Milana Sacco, a senior at Monessen High School, the postponement of her senior musical was a big disappointment. They were putting on “Shrek the Musical,” and she was to play Fiona. It was supposed to open this past weekend.
“It’s been really difficult knowing that I might not get to do my last performance,” she said. “I’ve still been practicing my lines just in case.”
Sacco plans to attend college and double major in business and theater in college haven’t changed, except for colleges delaying their enrollment deadlines, she said.
“Not being able to see your classmates and friends is so difficult because as seniors, your time is already so limited,” she said.
Those in-person connections are what a lot of Brandy LaQuartra’s students are missing right now, and it’s been tough on her, too. She teaches AP English at Washington High School to a small and close group of students, whom she misses.
“They’re like my kids, and my heart’s breaking for them,” she said. “This is the last of their high school career, and they feel robbed.”
Washington seniors typically do a senior project that’s centered on community service, LaQuartra said.
“That has always been a rite of passage for them,” she said. “It makes them reflect on how much they’ve grown as a high school student. If I have to do it digitally, I will make that happen.”
LaQuartra has held Google classrooms, hangouts and video chats with her students to give them an opportunity to connect and talk about “whatever.”
“I’ve been trying to read poetry to them, just anything I would find that would resonate and be helpful,” she said. “I would read to them and we would talk about it, offering an opportunity for them to share something.”
Instead of the academic discussions they’d normally have, LaQuartra said she’s tried to spend more time and focus on their mental and emotional health, since so many of them really miss physically attending school and having a routine.
“I think it’s definitely a loss that they feel, and they’re all just trying to process that,” she said.
She said some of her students were looking forward to prom and had their dresses, but are now worried they’ll never wear them. Students in plays or musicals are also disheartened that the show might not go on.
“It’s their big moment to shine, and most of them won’t get to do that again once they go to college,” she said.
LaQuartra said not being able to see their friends or teachers in the last few months of school or sharing a commencement ceremony are some of the most upsetting things for them.
“They know once this school year is over, or once college starts, they’ll never be the same,” she said. “Not having that closure is really upsetting a lot of them. I think it’s going to be hard to transition to college if they feel like they never finalized high school. It’s almost like a part of their world is cut off and they have no way to reclaim it.”
Nazarine Phillips, a Canon-Mac senior, said she regrets taking her high school years for granted. She said she thought having two weeks off would be a nice vacation, but now she’s recognized the memories she’s missing out on.
“Although many of my school days I didn’t want to be there, it was always a good time with my friends and the teachers that made the school day tolerable,” she wrote in an email. “I realized I would probably not get to walk my school hallways again. Sitting in my house doing school work on a computer to finish off my senior year was not how I predicted my senior year to play out.”