Community Letters

O P E L I K A

Congratulations on this significant rite of passage! No single achievement in a young person’s life is more predictive of adult success than graduating from high school.

You have turned in your last exams, written your last essays and finished those final projects. Now you are ready to move on to the next chapter — whether it is the exciting adventures that await you at college or embarking on a new career path. Now is the time when you can use all those lessons you’ve learned — both from life and school.

As mayor of this great city, I want you to know how proud I am of you and your accomplishments. A lot of people have probably offered you advice regarding your future. The trick, of course, is determining what advice is good or maybe not so good! Graduating high school can be as scary as it is exciting. My advice to you is simple … listen more than you talk. Be open to change. Be flexible. You will be amazed at what you can learn!

Your path to graduation hasn’t been easy. The COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for so many! But the good news is, you’ve made it and the future is bright for you and your classmates!

Chasing your dream requires effort, passion and hard work. I believe we all need divine help, so keep God a major part of what you’re doing. You’ve now reached an important milestone and you should be proud of yourself. I know your parents, family and friends are. Congratulations and best wishes.

Gary Fuller Mayor, City of Opelika

S M I T H S S T A T I O N

Dear Graduates,

For the second consecutive year, I am writing to congratulate the senior class of Smiths Station High School on making it through one of the toughest and most challenging circumstances we have all experienced in our lifetimes. And once again, Smiths Station High School’s seniors persevered and serve as shining examples of our city and county’s future.

It has been a long time, but I was once in your shoes. In addition to the daily grind of homework, quizzes and tests, I stayed very involved in extracurricular activities during my time at Smiths Station High School. Reaching graduation day is a tremendous accomplishment and moment of self-validation for any high school senior, but it is important to remain humble and never forget who helped you get there — caring parents, attentive principals, dedicated teachers and passionate coaches.

As a former Lee County School Board member and current Mayor of the city of Smiths Station, I commend you all on your tremendous achievement and wish you all nothing but the best as you move forward with your careers and education and the path that God has for you. Go Panthers!

Sincerely, Mayor F. L. “Bubba” Copeland

Two Seniors Share Their High School Experiences With COVID

By Hannah Lester Photos By Robert Noles and Contributed By Students

Last year there were parades, there were messages, there were announcements and well-wishes, all for seniors who graduated during the height of the pandemic and

lockdown.

This year, however, graduating seniors were affected not only through their junior year but senior year. These graduates lost the last quarter of their junior year and were left unable to say goodbye to friends who were graduating, attend prom or take finals as normal.

Then, when they came back to school in the fall, things were far from normal. Some classes were still held online, some sports were not competing and so-

cial distancing in the hallways left students lacking for the traditional ‘senior experiences.’

“When lockdown happened, it was the day before prom,” said Adalicia Crim, a senior at Beulah High School. “We had our prom before a lot of people, because I’m on the prom committee. So what happened was, it was the day before prom and that’s when Lee County announced that no one would go back to school.”

Originally, students thought they would be able to finish their school year last March. Lockdown was supposed to last a week or two. We all know how that ended up.

“I felt like, okay, we’re out of school, well maybe it’s a good thing, being a junior, but then the week after, everything just went downhill,” Crim said. “The communication, the work was overwhelming, I felt really bad for the teachers because they didn’t know what was going on and everyone was all over the place.”

At least for many graduating seniors in 2020, they already knew their plans for the fall, had taken their last ACT and were in the home stretch.

For juniors, that time frame is very important. Grades impact college decisions, there are standardized tests to be taken and decisions to be made.

Because of COVID-19, standardized tests, like the ACT, were thrown out the window in terms of college admission.

“It was definitely not something I had ever anticipated or expected to happen in my high school years,” said Lilly Baldwin, senior at Auburn High School.

Baldwin said she did take the ACT several times, though many schools did not require the test. One positive is that the use of Zoom during college admissions was helpful, she said.

Teachers were more prepared to handle virtual classes when school re-opened in the fall, but in the spring, Baldwin said she felt there was not much she got out of her classes.

In the fall, classes resumed in person.

“It felt really weird,” Baldwin said. “On the first day, we were standing around in the parking lot talking about how we hadn’t been here in seven months.”

Crim said she had hoped upon returning to in-person classes at Beulah that there might be some options for things like pep rallies, which wasn’t the reality.

“Going back to school, it was like, you could only