FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Sandpoint community members gather to celebrate the class of 2020
Senior Jaycie Irish and her mother pose by the Class of 2020 banner.
In the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has become proof that life can easily be flipped upside-down as we know it. The entire world has been forced to overcome change to accommodate the current situation. Schools in the U.S.A. have been shut down to take precautions, affecting all students and teachers. Although all classes are affected, the seniors have taken a very hard hit.
To most, senior year can be imagined as the greatest school year of your life. Seniors get a more special year than the rest as their hard work throughout the years gets to be celebrated. Events such as senior sunset, senior prank, prom, and graduation are always causing excitement throughout the year. Final plays, band concerts, and senior night for sports players wrap up extra curricular events for seniors who have put hard work into what they love.
And just in the blink of an eye, all of it’s been stripped away.
The community of Sandpoint is a special place, and the generosity that has been given to the students of SHS is evident. They were quick to notice the hurt the class of 2020 has been going though, and decided to do something about it.
SHS senior Jaycie Irish and her mother Melissa Irish saw a campaign called “Be the Light ID” and wanted to make it happen for our town. “My mom emailed Mr. Albertson and Kris Knowles to see what they could do and they started working on getting it approved by the city.” Jaycie said.
The news began to spread like wildfire as it was shared through social media. “Everybody who was sharing the posts about Friday night and just spreading the word across our little town helped immensely.” Jaycie stated, going on to highlight some community members. “John and Carmen Mace made the Class of 2020 banner, Knowles turned the lights on, and the community came out to celebrate our class.”
As Friday night came, Jaycie described her feelings as the Sandpoint community drove by, waved, and honked their horns past the lights at Memorial. “It was amazing to see my best friends again because I haven’t seen them since the quarantine started. It was so hard not to just run and hug them.” She also stated, “There was this constant feeling of anxiety though because I thought what if this was the last time I saw all of my friends before we leave for college and that was really scary.” In the end, Irish believed that it was one of her favorite nights from senior year.
What are you freakishly good/bad at?
The original Mario kart. I have no idea how but no one can beat me, and rainbow road is one of the easiest courses...
