2020:
A Class Dismissed

ABOUT THIS SERIES

They were born in the weeks and months after 9/11 and are graduating in the year of a crippling pandemic. Maine’s high school seniors have lived through some of the most profound change our country has ever witnessed.

With Maine high school cancelling in-class lessons for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year, these young adults missed out on cornerstone experiences that ease the transition from being a child to being an adult. 

No prom. No senior sports season. No yearbook signatures. No final play or performance. No awards dinner. No senior prank. No senior ditch day. For so many, no final farewell.

With so much focus on the death, despair and financial pain that’s accompanied the spread of the coronavirus, we felt it was important to capture the stories of a senior class that has been prematurely dismissed. And, we did just that between March and June of 2020.

Students participating in this series represented schools and communities from around the state: from the southernmost to the northernmost to the coast of Maine and the islands. 

Interviews and videos by Bailey Beltramo.
Photos by Jennifer Hoffer and contributed by the students.

We spoke to seniors from as many Maine high schools as possible to tell the story of Maine’s Class of 2020 and how these soon-to-be graduates dealt with the unexpected developments that come with a global pandemic and a disrupted senior year.

In all, we spoke to 29 graduating high school seniors from 25 high schools.

Gracia Bareti


School:
Westbrook High School

Hometown: Westbrook

Michael Delorge


School:
Maine School of Science and Mathematics

Hometown: Biddeford

Paige Goldstein


School:
Lake Region High School

Hometown: Naples

Mason Parks


School:
North Yarmouth Academy

Hometown: Scarborough

Nick Burgess


School:
Kennebunk High School

Hometown: Kennebunk

Tim Burgess


School:
Kennebunk High School

Hometown: Kennebunk

Veritie Howard


School:
 Windham High School

Hometown: Windham

Kiera Eubanks


School:
Portland High School

Hometown: Portland

Bailee Mallett


School:
Fort Fairfield High School

Hometown: Fort Fairfield

Tim Farrelly


School:
Vinalhaven School

Hometown: Vinalhaven

 

Shelby Lewis


School:
Katahdin High School

Hometown: Oakfield

Chance Walston


School:
Machias Memorial High School

Hometown: Machias

Reina and Ronna Ruzigana


School:
South Portland High School

Hometown: South Portland

Rebecca Packard


School:
Freeport High School

Hometown: Durham

 

Anna LeBlanc


School:
Edward Little High School

Hometown: Auburn

 

Alyssa Finn


School:
Gray-New Gloucester High School

Hometown: Wales

 

Elizabeth Dufresne


School:
Madawaska High School

Hometown: Madawaska

Jordyn Rubin


School:
Lewiston High School

Hometown: Lewiston

Emily Piper


School:
Edward Little High School

Hometown: Auburn

Jenna Fecteau


School:
Bonny Eagle High School

Hometown: Hollis

Sadie Colby


School:
Messalonskee High School

Hometown: Sidney

Ian Dow


School:
Winthrop High School

Hometown: Winthrop

Emily Canavan


School:
Southern Aroostook Middle/High School

Hometown: Dyer Brook 

Susie Strickland


School:
Gardiner Area High School

Hometown: Gardiner

Amber Sandstrom


School:
Fort Kent Community High School

Hometown: Cross Lake Township

Georgia Howe


School:
Hall-Dale High School

Hometown: Farmingdale

Katelyn Ingerson


School:
Lewiston High School

Hometown: Lewiston

Joshua Mutshaila


School:
Casco Bay High School

Hometown: Portland