The impacts of the COVID-19 crisis are unprecedented, and it affects each person differently depending upon key factors such as age and geography. But no matter your circumstance, chances are that you know a Class of 2020 high school senior who’s pretty devastated by it.
Maybe it’s your own child, or a nephew, niece, grandchild, or a friend of a friend. Whatever your connection, the sentiment regarding missing the long-awaited spring of senior year is universal: it’s one of loss, disappointment and disbelief.
At Cheddar Up, we’re inspired by those digging in to make a difference in the lives of these Class of 2020 high school seniors. We’re comforted by the action we’re seeing in communities and on the Cheddar Up platform. With over a month of quarantining under our belts, reality is setting in. It’s now obvious that high school graduation celebrations will not be business as usual. But with a little creativity, the show can go on in one form or another.
Celebrate with Stuff
We’re all about virtual celebrations, but quite frankly, we have Zoom fatigue. So we’re going to skip the virtual recommendations. In a world where in-person is currently forbidden, we find ourselves gravitating to more “physical” ways to celebrate—aka stuff!
Shout out to the Jefferson Davis High School Boosters in Montgomery, Alabama who are raising spirits for their Class of 2020 Seniors with a t-shirt sale!
Senior 2020 #Quarantined T-shirts
Check out this amazing group organizer who is taking orders for these hysterical t-shirts. From the toilet paper to the masks to hash-tag “quarantined”, these Class of 2020 shirts are perfection. These should be high on every senior’s list! Want to make a difference? Create an online collection page like this great example on Cheddar Up and start taking t-shirt orders for seniors ASAP.
gifts for seniors
Just because the community center can’t be booked for the graduation party, this does NOT mean that gifts are optional. That would be tragedy upon tragedy. Check out these curated gifts for seniors, or alternatively, create a simple online collection page on Cheddar Up and let friends and family gift your senior money with ease.
Celebrate with Signage
Sticking with our “physical versus virtual” theme, we’re big fans of signage to celebrate the Class of 2020. No matter the size of your high school, there’s an option here for everyone. With your group-organizing prowess, you can pull this off in no time:
The Senior Booster Club of Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas is lifting Class of 2020 spirits with their community yard sign sale!
yard signs
This group organizer created a brilliant online collection page allowing both senior parents and community members alike to purchase “Celebrate Class of 2020” yard signs. Every senior automatically gets a sign in their yard—imagine waking up to that…it’s small, but it’s something! Plus, if you have the signs printed by a local business, it’s a win-win! Cheddar Up allows you to create and share your own sale in minutes.
business & community signs
Want to take signage out of yards and into small businesses? Here are two ideas with merit:
- Enlist small businesses to use their electronic signs to give a nod to high school seniors.
- Make it more personal by taking a note from Walhalla, South Carolina and have individual signs with each senior’s photo printed and hung from light poles around your community. Once graduation is over, the signs can be given to each family for a one-of-a-kind memento.
front-door decorations
The parents in Dimondale, Michigan are taking matters into their own hands by decorating the front doors of their homes for their Class of 2020 high school seniors. Front door decorations show students’ school and sports accomplishments over the years, their high school, and future-attending college.
Celebrate with Creative Ceremonies
The problem with a Zoom high school graduation ceremony is… Heck, who are we kidding? There are SO MANY PROBLEMS with the idea of a Zoom high school graduation ceremony! It’s really difficult for such a monumental event to be pulled off online…so much gets lost in translation.
Hanover Area Class of 2020 graduates will come out to the Garden Drive-In with their families and remain inside their cars.
We adore the solution that Hanover, Pennsylvania came up with for their high school seniors’ big day. The original ceremony was planned for June 4, 2020. They’ve found a way to stick with that date and bring people together in a socially-distanced manner. It involves:
- Drive-in movie grounds – with students and parents attending in their respective vehicles.
- Pre-recorded commencement addresses by all the big wigs who would normally speak that day shown on the big screen.
- Post-ceremony movie entertainment to fill the gap of families not being able to dine and celebrate like usual.
We’re sure people in this community will find unique ways to make this drive-in graduation ceremony extra special. We imagine decorated cars and lots of horn honking…maybe even a few caps thrown through a sunroof!
Celebrate the Class of 2020
We hope this inspires you and your community to make your seniors’ graduation special. If you need a little help to capture event attendance, sell t-shirts or yard signs, Cheddar Up is here for you.
