De Soto High School’s Class of 2020 has missed out on a lot of great memories that the end of senior year brings to graduating students. Graduation has been rescheduled for July 25 so that the Class of 2020 can have some sense of closure for their senior year of high school.

Principal Samuel Ruff pointed out that many different groups had a say in the decision to schedule graduation for a later date.

“Really, the entire senior class had some part in the decision-making process through the survey that was sent out. The building administration, with the help of senior StuCo members, senior class officers, and teachers reviewed the survey results and made a recommendation to the district administration,” Ruff said. “The Board of Education voted to change the date of graduation from May 16 to July 25.”

Senior Sierra Grube appreciates how the school is doing everything that they can due to COVID-19 interrupting their senior year.

“I am very excited that they are trying everything they can to give us graduation,” Grube said. “They understand this is a huge milestone for everyone and want us to have a proper send-off.  We missed out on so many things and this will be the final of that huge chapter in many of our lives.”

Ruff feels that graduation is an important event for students to wrap up their high school experiences with.

“This ceremony honors and recognizes the efforts of your years of formal education to this point in your life. The Class of 2020 did not get to have a senior prom or senior spring sports season, they missed out on music and choir concerts and competitions, plays, and a list of other activities,” Ruff said. “We believe our time together is special and did not want this class to go away without doing what we can to still hold this event.”

Senior Addie Gress missed out on her last season of high school soccer due to the pandemic.

“I don’t really think there’s anything that could make up for all the things we missed out on as a senior class, but graduation will give all of us one last chance to be together and say goodbye,” Gress said. “It’ll be hard to find closure with missing out on our senior sports, senior prom, and the time we should’ve had without our classmates and teachers.”

Grube understands why rescheduling graduation was the best option for the seniors to have an in-person experience.

“Right now, COVID is still very much a problem, and we would not have been able to have graduation safely,” Grube said. “They also talked about having online graduation but that seems so impersonal, so I think it’s good they just moved the date. Hopefully, everything will have calmed down by then.”

Senior Delaney LeCluyse is excited about having in-person graduation but also feels that she will be in the mindset for college.

“Having graduation will definitely bring more closure,” LeCluyse said. “It feels like something is missing. I’ll be able to say goodbye to my friends and have one last celebration with my class.”

Grube feels that being away from her classmates for this long period of time, and then being with them after not seeing them will be very overwhelming for her and some of her classmates.

“I think it’ll be a huge wake-up call. A lot of people hate sitting at graduation and are bored, but we all are just excited,” Grube said. “It will definitely be very heartwarming to see everyone because we had no idea the last time seeing everyone was our true last time.”

Gress has similar feelings to Grube and is excited to be with all of her classmates one last time.

 “I think it’ll be so cool to be able to be together again after being apart, and because of the time spent apart I think we will be able to appreciate our graduation ceremony and each other much more than we would have,” Gress said.

Senior Samuel Hashagen agrees with LeCluyse on what graduation will offer themselves and their classmates.

“Having in-person graduation will make it feel like high school is actually over,” Hashagen said.

Although graduation has been scheduled for a different time, there will be a few additional differences in comparison to previous graduations at DHS.

“We hope to be able to replicate as much as we can the graduations of the past,” Ruff said. “Unfortunately, we do know that the band and choir will not be able to perform.”

Grube describes her thoughts on how the class of 2020 will go down in history.

“This feels so strange right now but we will look back on this and think about how wild this year was. The class of 2020 will always be known and our year will be made into history.”

Hashagen reflects on his time at DHS and shows his appreciation for his teachers.

“I am extremely thankful for everything that my teachers have done for me. I am so glad that I transferred to De Soto,” Hashagen said. “It was the best decision of my life.”

LeCluyse speaks on behalf of her fellow seniors concerning going to college in the fall, despite being unable to finish out the school year in a classroom.

“We’re ready. Even though it feels like we are missing something or we don’t feel like “real adults,” we are ready to face the world,” LeCluyse said.

Gress gives advice to underclassmen about never taking things for granted throughout high school.

“Give your all in everything you do and always let people know how much you appreciate them because you never know when it’ll be your last time getting to do something or be with certain people,” Gress said.