Class of 2020 up to the challenge

This year’s crop of graduating seniors, not just in Imperial but around the country, have experienced a series of unprecedented events that will forever mark their final year of high school.
    Who would have ever fathomed that schools throughout the nation would shut down in mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak and never reopen during the remainder of the school year.
    Who would have thought that all those special events and memories normally experienced by seniors, like prom, or that final checkout on the last day of school, or graduation, would be replaced with social distancing and remote learning.
    How about the loss of the entire  spring sports season and the what-ifs that will always linger by not being able to leave it all out on there one final time?
    Yes, seniors, it’s been a major bummer. But how you move forward will be the determining factor in how the rest of your story plays out.
    It would be easy to fall in the trap of feeling sorry for yourselves. But I believe you folks are much better than that.
    I’ve seen time and time again how you have made your school, your parents and your community proud of the accomplishments you leave behind. You can take great pride in that as well.
    COVID-19 will be just one of the many challenges you will face along the path. Somewhere in all of this is a life lesson that will ultimately make you, and all of us, all the better going forward.
    I believe the Class of 2020 stands prepared to handle the challenges that await them.