It wasn't the ending everybody wanted for the Pioneer High School Class of 2020. However, they and their families made the best of it.
The high school and the rest of the school district has been on a hard closure since March 16, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Graduation Week started Monday, June 22, with a video on Facebook and YouTube during which Achievement Night winners were announced. That was followed by the Top 20 Academic Performers video on Wednesday.
The Virtual Commencement video on Friday evening featured some of the most heartfelt and poignant speeches in recent memory, followed by a presentation of the class and their memory video.
ABOVE: Caitlin Kopinski, left, Karson Hurlburt and Danielle Herrick from the Pioneer Class of 2020.
On Saturday, June 27, the same day they would have walked the stage inside George C. Crawford Auditorium, like generations before them, the aud was silent. Instead, outside in the bus lane and HS/MS connecting road, cars lined up for nearly four hours so that grads could hop out and their families could take photos of them receiving their diplomas. In the end, only 17 diplomas of 206 remained unclaimed.
The following is the official graduate list for the class of 2020:
Whitney Aarum, Annette Addimando, Ashley Ameis, Brianna Atkinson, Callan Barber, Dakota Besch, Dominic Biscaro, Taylor Bishoff, Cora Blackwell, Ashley Bliss, Kara Boldt, Lily Borer, Anthony Bostwick, Elaina Bouw, Wolfgang Brauen, Alivia Braun, Kimberly Breton, Dakota Brown, Makenzy Brunner, Connor Buncy, Payeton Burfield, Erin Burley, Bryce Burton, James Byroads, Star Cappiello, Shaundra Carter, Alex Casillo, Breanna Cleveland, Justin Clever, Makayla Comstock, Jacob Conrad, Gwenyth Conran, Justin Cope, Tomi Cordz, Jaron Cornman, Cheyenne Cummings, MacKenzie Dashnaw, Raeanne Dayton, Ila Decker, Isabella Devitt, Edward Dodge, Taylor Donohue, Aaron Doyle, Deanna Dziewa, Vera Edelman, Olivia Ellis, Angela Ely, Tyler Ely, Rachael Empie, Heidi Estabrook, Paige Folts, Patrick Fontaine, Peyton Fontaine, Emily Frazier, Faith Fridman, Thomas Fronckowiak, James Fuller, Megan Fuller, Mykala Furman, Stephanie Fyock, Karlee Gagnon, Jeannie Galioto, Anthony Gasbarrini, Carl George, Dylan George, Jonathan Goodemote, Braeden Gorog, Hayli Green, Shawna Green, Kirsten Grimmer, Brianna Hackett, Maria Halsey, Lucas Harder, Olivia Harder, Trevor Harrington, Isaiah Hassett, Trevor Haynes, Megan Hazeltine, Jerad Hediger, Conrad Heitzman, Zoe Helmich, Danielle Herrick, Maxwell Hewitt, Tra’e Hill, Jenna Hitchcock, Dustin Hobin, Alyssa Hochadel, Christian Hudzinski, Karson Hurlburt, Rebecca Isaman, Jack Jandzinski, Lacey Johnson, Abigail Kaminski, Kylie Karpinski, Olivia Kempf, Bennett Kenyon, Hannah Kibler, Kayleen Kidd, Anna Killingbeck, Aidan Kimpel, Skyler Kirsch, Ellsa Kless, Chadwick Klimczak, Marissa Klimczak, Thomas Kolasny, Caitlin Kopinski, Keenan Laird, Mitchell Landphair, Trevor Law, Amy Lawrence, Addison Leatherbarrow, Donovan Logan, Madison LoTempio, Kyle Ludwig, William Mages, Eirinn Mangan, Zachary Marks, Madison Marsh, Zachary Martin, Gavyn Mason, Elizabeth Mau, Morgan McAfee, Skylar McCarns, Lily McChesney, Lindsey Mead, Devin Mersmann, Chandler Miles, Elizabeth Miller, Johanna Molik, Alexis Moran, Samantha Morgan, Caleb Myers, Justin Nassoiy, Shane Nelligan, Sarah Newland, Derek Nieves, Joshua Oun, Coti Owens, Levi Palesh, Daniel Palmateer, Abigail Papke, Andrew Payne, Brandon Peralez, Jessica Petri, Madison Phelps, Baylee Phetteplace, Kaleb Phillips, Carol Pilling, Marcus Pingrey, Cory Pleace, Michael Polek, Kyah Prey, Amanda Prior, Colton Raiber, Korey Rak, Julia Reiller, Amber Reisdorf, Devin Reisdorf, Joseph Rossi, Carson Roth, James Ruppert, Emma Russell, Julia Sanders, Madison Schoepflin, Laine Schwab, Shaughnessy Shephard, Adam Shingler, Jasmine Sims, Leah Sims, Justin Siwa, Jasmine Smith, Kenneth Smith, Kaitlyn Sobczak, Brilynn Soulvie, Aiden Spencer, Anita Spoyer, Robert Steele, Jared Stewart, Brahm Stratford, Brianna Stutzman, Denton Tilly, Clay Tingue, Kayla Transki, Jackson Trummer, Jonathan Tuttle, Trevor Vacinek, John Vail, Hailey Vickman, Ethan Vitali, Kaitlynn Webber, Davaughn Wells, Trent Wesley, Benjamin Westberg, Paige White, Kendra Wojtaszczyk, Wade Wolfer, Amber Wright, Kelsey Wright, Dylan Wylie, Erin Yocum