GLACE BAY, N.S. -- It’s graduation season, but for the class of 2020 things will be a lot different.
Across the Maritimes, parents are taking it upon themselves to make sure students are left with lasting memories, despite COVID-19.
Signs congratulating the class of 2020 can be found all over many Maritime towns these days.
But for this year’s grads, their special year has been a lot different.
"I was upset," said Grade 12 student Grace Pimentel. "I thought I wasn't going to be able to put on my prom dress and feel like a princess for the day."
With proms and safe grads already lost to COVID-19, parents took it upon themselves to try and salvage something this year’s class can hold as a special memory together.
"It's important for them," said Bev Pimentel, who is organizing the event. "They finished school the week before March break and that's how it ended and this is not how it should end for them."
The class of Glace Bay High School will be holding a makeshift grand march and graduation.
It will be held at a safe distance in the parking lot of Cape Breton University.
"They'll do the walk, go across the stage, they'll have their moment where they'll walk across the stage, and maybe say a few words to their fellow classmates," said Pimentel. "Then they will walk back to their cars and have a dance with their parent."
In other parts of the Maritimes, they’re coming up with their own ways to celebrate.
In Petitcodiac, N.B., photos of graduates line power poles, congratulating the class of 2020.
At Cobequid Education Centre in Truro, N.S., a GoFundMe campaign is underway to raise the necessary funds to carry out their plans. The school has not only been dealing with the pandemic, but also with the loss of classmate Emily Tuck, who was killed in the Nova Scotia mass shooting in April.
"There's been a lot of heartache here, and where these kids are not able to socialize as they normally would, we thought, wow it's really about community at this point, and the community is really stepping up," said organizer Jim Lorraine.
Sydney Academy and Riverview High School are also in the final planning stages, but it’s not yet been finalized.
Meanwhile, Glace Bay parents are sending their final plans to Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health for approval, but say in general he’s been in favour.
"It's such a big time in our lives," said Grace Pimentel. "You only graduate high school once. You don't get to have another prom, you don't get to have another graduation."
