Cheers and honks echoed as cars of graduating seniors passed through a tunnel of Newburgh Enlarged City School District [NECSD] staff. Staff stood holding signs celebrating graduating seniors of NFA Main.

The school district held a celebratory item pickup for all 700 graduating seniors of the district last Friday. Although the novel coronavirus [COVID-19] crisis caused an abrupt change to the typical school year, spirits were still high.

For staff and students, adjusting to the physical closure of schools for the rest of the year has been tough and new.

“It was definitely really weird at first,” said Olivia Gloffke, 2020 NFA salutatorian with plans to major in photography at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan or University of the Arts London. “First we weren’t getting really any work. As time goes on you just get used to it. It’s super boring, you miss being able to see people every day.”

For graduating seniors, the district plans to hold an in person graduation at some point. Although the date hasn’t been announced, the district is still making efforts to celebrate students.

“They’re doing a really good job, in my opinion,” said Sam Sukhai, 2020 graduating senior with plans to follow the pre-med track at Brooklyn College or Fordham University. “I don’t feel as if all my work through the past 12 years or whatever have gone to waste. I actually don’t feel like I lost anything by not having a normal graduation. So yeah, I just appreciate it.”
Cassie Sklarz, NECSD communication strategist, said that the district had been making plans to celebrate the senior experience since the Monday after the first closure was announced.

“We’re really kind of brainstorming a lot of different plans and a lot of different options,”said Sklarz. “What we decide [for the in person graduation] will really be based on the guidance we have from the governor, based on what’s allowed in the time period.”

Tegan Mahur is a junior at NFA Main. Although Mahur isn’t graduating this year, she’s already started wondering about what her final year of school will look like.

“It just sucks to see all my friends going through this,” said Mahur. “Like it’s always concerning. Like if this is going to happen to me. I think I’m pretty proud of my senior friends. Because if I was going through this, I’d be a lot more upset about it.”

“We truly want to celebrate them in a very special way,” said Sklarz. “This is obviously going to be memorable because it’s so different. We just want to make sure we celebrate them and honor their accomplishments. This is a big milestone.”