Ways to Support Your Graduating Senior in 2020
Today’s high school seniors were born in the midst of 9/11 and will graduate during COVID-19, an unprecedented time in our history. For many Boys & Girls Clubs kids and teens, the days in between have been equally uncertain. Although, for some, adversity has always been their reality, resilience is their response.
Thanks to the support from Club mentors, they are ready – for college, a job and life.
Even in the midst of the pandemic, graduation is not cancelled. Clubs around the country are helping to support their grads this season in new virtual ways. Here are a few ways you can support the seniors in your life:
- Host a virtual graduation ceremony in the living room complete with balloons, decorations, cake, and gifts. Invite family and friends to join you virtually and be sure to take plenty of pictures of your graduate in their cap and gown.
- Surprise your teen with a congratulations yard sign, using some of those precious senior photos.
- Turn your front door into a billboard to celebrate their achievements! Decorate your front door with a collage of your graduate’s academic and sports accomplishments. It can include sports equipment and letters, dance costumes, robotics club awards, cheerleading ribbons, or marching band uniforms.
- Host a drive-by graduation parade! Enlist family and friends to drive by and celebrate your grad.
- Tune into “Dear Class of 2020″ ceremony hosted by Michelle and Barack Obama featuring Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys and Kerry Washington, along with activist Malala Yousafzai and others. Your teen will feel a part of something bigger and know that they are not alone in celebrating virtually.
Graduation is a major milestone in a young person’s life: wearing a cap and gown; walking for the ceremony; and moving to the next stage of their lives. As graduates begin their own next chapters amid the challenges of the global pandemic, take a moment to say congratulations and job well done! They will never forget this time, or the ways in which you loved and supported them.
Help the Class of 2020 Celebrate
Graduation may look different this year, but it is not cancelled for all the Club seniors who’ve beaten the odds to get here. As we continue to help make graduation possible for more kids, help celebrate this year’s graduates by signing their graduation card.
