After a long and strange pandemic year, Wrangell's graduating seniors are preparing for the end of their high school education in May. Plans for a different, but in-person, graduation ceremony are underway, while seniors are planning for their next moves in life.
While last year's graduation ceremony was held virtually because of the pandemic, high school secretary Megan Powell said they are working on plans for an in-person ceremony for the class of 2021 on May 21.
"The kids, they actually wanted to do their graduation on city dock,"she said. "So right now we're working on a mitigation plan."
Tentatively, Assistant Principal and Lead Teacher Bob Davis said, they will have a maximum of 80 to 90 people spread out across the dock. That includes the 15 graduates, four family members per student, and school officials.
For those who cannot attend in person, the district plans to livestream the event on their YouTube channel.
Powell said one graduation tradition, a slideshow featuring the graduating students and reading letters from the students' families, will be prerecorded and put on YouTube separately.
There may also be a small parade of decorated vehicles down Front Street at the end of the graduation ceremony, she added.
"They will have the speeches (at the ceremony),"Davis said. "They have a commencement speech and then the ... two valedictorians and the salutatorian."
Powell said they will submit the school's plan for graduation to the city for their review in the near future, and the plans will be finalized soon.
"The kids are pretty excited about doing something different for once, and changing it up a bit in this crazy year,"she said.
Moving from the crazy year to future plans, several students shared their thoughts.
Aaliyah Messmer
Aaliyah Messmer spent the majority of her high school years at the school, but spent her senior year homeschooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Homeschooling was a new experience, she said, but one she has enjoyed. Homeschooling allowed her to focus her studies on her interests and to discover new ones. Thanks to the wide array of options homeschooling provided, Messmer said she discovered a new passion for fashion and interior design.
While she has enjoyed homeschooling, Messmer said she misses high school and has many good memories of her time there.
"I thought it was a pretty fun experience, to make a bunch of memories,"she said. "Overall it was a good experience through the stress and the good times."
Messmer will attend Orange Coast College this fall in Costa Mesa, California, where she will study photography. Her high school career has prepared her for the big change of moving to a new state and starting college, she said. She also had some advice for younger freshmen who are just starting their high school careers.
"I would say study, not just the day before,"Messmer said. "That will put a lot of stress off of you."
Messmer said she will participate in a graduation ceremony with her homeschool program, IDEA Homeschool, sometime in May in Juneau.
Logan Ritchie
Logan Ritchie said there are several parts of high school that he said he did not get a lot out of, but that was more a flaw in the public school system in general and not particularly Wrangell schools. High school is designed to help prepare kids for college, he said, which was not for him.
One bright spot he said he got a lot out of was the high school shop class, taught by Winston Davies. The school has a great shop, he said. "He's a really good teacher,"he said of Davies.
Ritchie said he already has a welding job in Wrangell lined up post-graduation.
To the incoming freshman class, Ritchie said his advice was to work hard and set goals for yourself.
"Keep on stuff, don't slack."he said. "Keep trying to figure out what you're doing."
Jacob Allen
Overall, Jacob Allen said, he enjoyed his time at Wrangell High. He made a lot of friends, there were a lot of good teachers, and he felt his classes helped get him prepared for the future. Deciding what to do after high school was a challenge, Allen said, but high school also helped him in that area. Thanks to several members of the military who spoke at the high school, Allen said he decided to join the U.S. Coast Guard upon graduating.
"I didn't really know what I wanted to do,"he said. "Plus, I didn't want to have to pay any student loans or anything."
Allen wanted to tell incoming freshmen that it is OK if they do not have a plan or set goal for their future. They have years to figure that out, he said, and they should not feel pressured if others around them have things figured out already.
"People are going to ask you what you want to do with your life, and you don't have to have an answer,"he said.
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