Lyons Township High School held what might have been its first outdoor graduation ever, school officials said.
The approximate 1,000 students who graduated Saturday were divided into two groups with separate ceremonies, so they could be seated in white folding chairs spaced apart, per coronavirus guidelines, on the football field at the Western Springs campus.
“This is a year when we could have focused on what didn’t happen,” said LTHS District 204 Superintendent Timothy Kilrea. “Instead, I would like to look back on this year and concentrate on what did happen, what you the Class of 2021 made happen. You faced this pandemic and made the best of an incomparable situation.
“Despite Zoom lessons and canceled time-honored traditions, our students, staff, coaches and sponsors creatively re-imagined lessons, events and opportunities,” said Kilrea, who is retiring as superintendent June 30. “Both inside and outside the classroom, LT students didn’t allow the pandemic to deter our spirit or our success.
More Top Picks How To Perform Cpr Step By Step
“Look no further than the creative alternative of outside performances for the Eurhythmics dance team, or the Snowball leader weekend experience normally held in Wisconsin, which was held at the LT South Campus, . . . or the robotics team competing and winning in the World Competition, or our bass fishing team making it to state. And let’s not forget the LT gymnastic team who recently won the state championship,” Kilrea said.
The students also continued to show what a caring community LT is, Kilrea said. “They sewed masks, they donated to needy children, tutored those in need of academic assistance, and wrote letters of encouragement and even shopped for groceries for local senior citizens.”
Student speakers at the commencements, which were held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. May 29, included Student Council President James King, Class Board President Ella Petrusha, Sarah Madden of Western Springs and Keegan Casella, Louise Griffin and Daniel Roemer, all from La Grange.
Honors Orator at the afternoon commencement, Roemer said freshman year he was usually quiet and reserved, but when another student started talking to him, Roemer mentioned he could clap superfast, which he then demonstrated at the graduation ceremony.
At school that day, “soon I had everyone trying to clap at lightning speeds,” Roemer said. “After that I found it so much easier to talk to other students, because I was confident they would be friendly in return.”
Roemer also told how surprised he was in English class when his teacher accepted his suggestion to show his favorite movie, “The Dark Knight,” instead of “Maleficent” in a unit on good and evil.
His stories show what makes LT special, Roemer said.
“The students are naturally kind and caring and the teachers actually value and act on feedback from the pupils. The point is it doesn’t matter who you are because somebody will want to hear what you have to say,” advice Roemer hopes his fellow graduates will follow in the years ahead.
