As 254 students of Pittston Area’s graduating class arrived at the high school campus to receive their caps and gowns, they were greeted by an honor guard of the school’s faculty.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Pittston Area graduates greeted by teachers, staff
Faculty member and one of the event’s organizers, Bridget Brogan, holds up a T-shirt going to each student donated by the Pittston Area Teachers Federation.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Brandon Siley arrived for his cap and gown with a special sign of his own.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Two hundred fifty-four signs with Pittston Area graduating seniors were placed at the rear of the school and will be on display until May 27.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Mackenzie Colleran, of Jenkins Township, proudly holds up her cap and gown packet and T-shirt.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
YATESVILLE – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pittston Area School District has had to alter the school’s spring schedule, including students collecting caps and gowns and graduation.
On May 22, as students arrived at the high school to pick up their caps and gowns, they were met by an honor guard of Pittston Area faculty members as well as 254 signs of each 2020 graduate with their photo included.
Superintendent Kevin Booth, whose son Logan is one of those in the 2020 graduating class, was on hand as the cavalcade of students arriving at 5 p.m. during a steady rain.
“Every day it’s a new challenge and we’re trying to give the kids the best send off we can based on the circumstance,” Booth said. “For graduation, we are looking at every scenario from PNC Field to our own track at the football stadium, which is getting ripped up on the first of June. Until Luzerne County goes green, there’s not much we can do. We’re leaving things up to the majority of what the kids and their parents want to do.”
The 254 signs were on display as the students drove around to the rear of the building to pick up their cap and gown along with sports awards and a T-shirt donated by the Pittston Area Federation of Teachers Local 1590. The signs will be on display until May 27.
Faculty members Bridget Brogan, Danae Kemzura, and Dr. John Haas, the school’s district principal, organized the senior event, and Tara Craig did the graphics work with the signs.
Kemzura, who is a learning support/life skills support teacher, is mother of Ashlyn who is in the graduating class.
“Ashlyn is a little upset that she missed prom, relay for life and other end of the year activities and all the fun stuff you do at the end of their school career. We’re just trying to make it fun for them” Kemzura said. “As a faculty member, it’s sad, I’m really upset by it and I didn’t get to say good-bye to my own class. I didn’t get to say good-bye a lot of Ashlyn’s friends that grew up in my house. I was going to give her her diploma at graduation. It’s really sad.”
“The Pittston Area family is overwhelmed with the amount of support the class of 2020 has received from our entire community and staff,” Dr. John Haas, district principal, said. “The students did all that they were asked to do and knowing they acted mature, taking everything in stride just shows what a good class they have been. We hope this event gives them a lasting memory of what the class of 2020 means to the Pittston Area School District.”
Senior Mackenzie Colleran, of Jenkins Township, is one of the 254 students, pulled up the canopied bus stop where faculty members handed out her cap, gown and T-shirt.
“I think this was a really good idea, I love it,” Colleran, who will attend Luzerne County Community College in the fall, said. “I’m going to miss seeing my teachers, and it was exciting to see them today. We definitely got robbed.”
“As parents of a senior, my wife and I were looking forward to all the festivities and I’ve coached so many of these kids since they were 4-years-old,” Booth said. “It was really going to be a special thing and we’re still hoping it will be special.”
“What (students) have to focus on is not the things that they didn’t get to do, but all the things they experienced in their 12 ½-years of Pittston Area,” Booth added. “The high and the lows of high school and there is a lot of accomplishments with this group from academics to sports. They have to focus on what they did get to do and what they will do in the future.”
Booth said Pittston Area would make a decision on graduation ceremony in the next two weeks. “I know the kids don’t want to do a virtual ceremony.”
