SAUGUS — It may not be the Senior Sendoff anyone imagined, but Saugus High School is still celebrating its class of 2020 in style.
On Tuesday, 50 banners bearing the names and faces of all 160 students set to graduate this spring were unveiled in Saugus center, serving tribute to seniors who have had their final semester of high school cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Given all that (these students) have worked for these last several years … I think this shows that we’re behind them 100 percent,” said Board of Selectmen member Jeff Ciccolini. “We want to show support for our seniors, and the town embraces anything we can do to give them some sense of normalcy during what should be the best time of their lives.”
Ciccolini and fellow board member Anthony Cogliano brought the unique idea to town manager Scott Crabtree earlier this month, and the selectmen quickly worked together figuring out the logistics of creating and hanging dozens of banners around town in the middle of a global health crisis.
“Doing it remote was difficult because it’s not like I’m in (the) shop,” Ciccolini said. “We worked back and forth. (Saugus Signworks’) Corey Berkowitch was sending files and JPEGs over to us (for approval), and my wife did an audit of the names and sent in corrections.”
Ciccolini said thanks to help from numerous people in the community, the entire process was complete in a little over two weeks.
“I’m glad we were able to do it. I think it was a great collaborative effort between the board, the town manager, and the entire town,” he said. “Huge kudos to the DPW for jumping right on and prioritizing getting (the banners) up, and huge kudos to the Town Manager as well for embracing and immediately stepping in and agreeing the town would pay.”
Hung on street lamps and poles throughout Saugus Center — which sees some of the town’s heaviest traffic — each red banner displays the name and portrait of three members of the class of 2020.
“It’s really great that the community’s rallying around these kids because they’re going through a tough end to their senior year,” said Saugus High principal Michael Hashem. “I’ve heard from some students and parents that they’re excited about the banners. It’s a special way to recognize these kids.”
He added that having the school year cut unexpectedly short has been difficult to process.
“It’s strange right now. We’re so ingrained with a routine from when things start in September to when they end in June, and this is right around the time when … everything ramps up (for seniors),” he said. “Everything’s changed in the blink of an eye.”
Hashem said that although they won’t be signing off on their high school careers in the traditional sense, the class of 2020 will always hold a special place in the town’s memory.
“They’re always going to be a special class to me,” he said. “They’re a great, very united group of kids, and they’ll always be remembered.
“While they may not have had the traditional ending to classes, from a historical standpoint, nobody will ever forget the class of 2020 and the end of this school year.”
