SPARTA, Michigan — Before they get out into what a lot of people consider "the real world," the Class of 2020 has already been exposed to quite a bit during their 18 years on Earth, as Sparta High School seniors have pointed out in a YouTube video.
"A class where most of us were born during 9/11. A class that grew up during new technology advancements. A class that entered elementary school when the stock market crashed. A class that entered middle school during the Boston Marathon bombing. A class that entered high school when school shootings became prevalent. And now we're ending high school during a pandemic," students in the video said.
That pandemic means they'll be missing out on memories that past high school graduating classes have to look back on. Graduation, prom, sports seasons and final performances are all things that were taken away from the Class of 2020.
But the message of this video isn't sadness.
"I think it shows that this generation is strong. We’re not focused on just the bad things, we can see past the things we’re struggling with and work with what we have," said Danielle Brittner who posted the YouTube video.
Brittner is a senior whose friend approached her about the idea as a way to show how grateful the class is for community members, school staff, parents and classmates.
"I started planning my script and then I just reached out to all these people on our Instagram account and they were like ‘yeah that’s awesome.’ So then I planned the script and I sent them their lines and I gave them a week to get their videos in," Brittner said.
The video was posted on Monday, April 13 and has already been viewed by thousands of people.
"I’ve got all my teachers calling me on the phone like ‘I love your video’. One of my teachers called me crying. I didn’t think this would happen, but it’s definitely awesome to get all these people involved," Brittner said.
Sparta High School students will officially return to class Monday, April 20, even though they won't be able to learn in the traditional classroom sense.
"Our teachers have all been calling us separately to try to figure out ways that they can communicate with us and make sure we have internet, a Chromebook, or a laptop -- some way that we can communicate and do our lessons," Brittner said.
"Everything’s going to be online now and definitely a little bit hard, but each teacher is doing things a little bit differently. They’re trying to make it less stressful."
After high school, Brittner plans to attend Grand Rapids Community College before moving to a four-year college to pursue a career in the field of human services, education, and social sciences. Whatever her future holds, she hopes she'll be able to see her friends in person again soon.
"We might not have a graduation. We might not have our final prom, but maybe a class reunion in five years when this is cleared out," she said.
"We’ll all get through this even if we don’t think we will. But we should all just see the brighter sides and stick together. Look out for one another. Even if it’s just a quick FaceTime call or a text to make sure people are doing okay. We’ll get through it."
How others are helping during the pandemic:
- Local tech company gets in COVID-19 fight with software to help schools
- Salvation Army meets a growing need during COVID-19 crisis
- Helping kids with autism adjust during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Calvin University provides free housing to GRPD, Spectrum Health employees during pandemic
- GRCC waiving all fees for summer classes
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