Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Clark County high schools get creative to celebrate seniors and other students

Virtual Assembly

Courtesy / Ashley VaNess, teacher and student council advisor

Liberty High School’s cheer team performs during a virtual assembly Friday, April 3, 2020.

Cameron Grau, music artist and graduating senior at Sierra Vista High, was looking forward to one last chance to DJ for his peers at his school’s senior prom.

But most in-person senior events, including prom and graduation, are presumed canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. So Grau volunteered to DJ the next best school function: a schoolwide “virtual assembly” held on Instagram Live on Friday night.

“We haven’t done anything like this before, so it’s something exciting that we’re all looking forward to,” Grau said

Planned by Sierra Vista’s student council, the virtual assembly included trivia, a “battle” on the music video social media platform TikTok, Grau’s DJ set and a cooking class with Principal John Anzalone, who showed students how to make ravioli.

It was just one example of virtual activities planned by Las Vegas high school students, teachers and principals in an effort to boost student morale during the state-mandated school closure scheduled to last until at least April 30.

Seniors are losing out on beloved traditions due to the pandemic, with many Clark County School District high schools having canceled prom and anticipating the cancellation of commencement. Nonetheless, assemblies, spirit weeks, social media campaigns spotlighting students and teachers, and senior-specific events like virtual prom have taken place or are being planned, according to high school students and administrators.

“The high school principals in Clark County are just an amazing group of individuals who’ve really worked together to spearhead how we can keep things positive,” said Isaac Stein, principal of Desert Pines High.

The importance of celebrating seniors in particular is personal for Stein, as he has a daughter graduating high school this spring. He hopes to hold a Desert Pines graduation ceremony later this year, although he recognizes that it could be logistically challenging if not impossible.

In the meantime, Desert Pines held Spirit Week last week and “virtual senior day” on March 20 in which the school promoted seniors and their accomplishments on social media, Stein said. Each day of spirit week was devoted to a different home activity ­— watching movies, wearing pajamas and gym attire, making a TikTok video and sporting Desert Pines-themed clothing, Stein said.

“I don’t know TikTok that well, so my kids educated me on that,” he said.

Liberty High held a virtual assembly Friday similar to the one at Sierra Vista, giving students a chance to showcase their skills, said Ashlee VanEss, a teacher and student council adviser. Streamed over Instagram, the assembly included performances from the school choir, band and cheer team.

Students in each grade also competed against each other in a TikTok challenge. Even teachers got involved at the assembly through a lip sync performance, VanEss said.

“I’m on a high right now. It was so cool,” she said hours after the assembly. “I anticipated it would go well, but to see it come together just brought me to tears.”

In addition to organizing a spirit week, Spring Valley High is involved in a “quarantine challenge” against Clark High, whereby students and teachers can challenge those at the other school in various activities, Spring Valley Principal Tam Larnerd said. Larnerd’s wife, Kerry Larnerd, is the Clark principal.

Tam Larnerd has also been communicating with students daily via email about school news and activities, said graduating senior Taylor Wilkerson.

For the most part, seniors are staying in touch and trying to maintain a sense of normalcy through social media, Wilkerson said. Nonetheless, she is disappointed that commencement will probably be canceled, especially given that she was set to deliver a speech as valedictorian.

“Even if we do a virtual one or a smaller one, it’s not really the same,” she said.

Some schools are weighing holding proms and commencement in the summer, although finding necessary chaperones that time of year would be difficult, Larnerd said. Spring Valley is toying with the idea of having a senior recognition ceremony in December, but there is no telling how that would work with students’ schedules, he said.

With the pandemic creating significant uncertainty for Las Vegas students, it is more important now than ever for schools to connect with students, remind them they are not alone and give them activities and events to be excited about, VanEss said. She has been relaying that message to students on Liberty’s student council executive board, which has planned many of the school’s virtual events.

“We’re definitely challenged right now, but we’re rising up,” she said. “We’re constantly thinking of other ways to try to make sure class of 2020 knows we’re thinking of them and we’re still celebrating them, even though it’s from a distance.”

Students are trying to take the situation in stride as well. Even if they don’t get to walk onstage to get their diploma, that doesn’t mean they didn’t graduate, Grau said.

“I think it’s important that the seniors don’t get their spirits thrown down,” said Liberty High School senior Breanna Rizo. “This is a tough situation and it’s definitely going to make us stronger in the end.”