Raymond honored 2020 high school graduates from the town by putting up 49 banners recognizing their academic achievements. WINDHAM EAGLE PHOTO |
It was a year like no other in history for high school students
this year, but a kind gesture has lifted spirits and inspired some lasting
memories for 49 graduating seniors from the Town of Raymond.
Starting on the weekend following graduation, motorists driving
through town on Route 302 found individual banners containing the names of all
49 of the town’s graduating seniors affixed to light posts throughout Raymond.
During a recent Raymond Select Board meeting, a proposal was
made to do something different this year to recognize graduates from the town
after traditional rites of passage for graduating seniors such as the Senior
Prom and the annual commencement ceremony were scrapped as a result of COVID-19
restrictions.
“We felt these graduates needed something after everything that’s
happened in the past few months because of the coronavirus,” said Teresa Sadak
of the Raymond Select Board. “And we wanted it to be for all graduating seniors
from our town and not just those who graduated from Windham High School. We
first looked at having signs made, but signs seemed rather ordinary. The
banners were a better idea and the select board members agreed.”
In all, the town had 51 sturdy vinyl banners produced by
Time4Printing in Windham, with the two additional signs saluting the Class of
2020 placed on utility poles on Route 302 near the town lines with Casco and
Windham entering Raymond.
Names of the graduates were confirmed by town officials and then
double-checked to ensure that they were spelled properly prior to the
production process. It only took Time4Printing employees about week to create
the banners and then give them to the town to be unfurled on graduation
weekend.
“These young people are indeed our future and they have worked
12 or 13 years to reach this point in school,” Sadak said. “It’s just a shame
that they had to go through this and miss so many school activities before
their graduation. This small gesture by the town is intended to show them that
we have noticed all of their hard work to get to where they are today and we
wanted to honor and recognize them with something they would always remember.”
Sadak said that once everyone has had a chance to view the banners,
they will be given to each of the 49 graduates in recognition of their academic
accomplishments in high school.
“They didn’t have a prom or even got to experience Senior Day,”
Sadak said. “This is our way of saying congratulations to them and to show our
town’s gratitude and appreciation for their achievement.”
Sadak said feedback she’s received for the effort has been
entirely positive.
“The parents have told me how proud they are and have been very
grateful to see this recognition,” she said. “One of the 49 graduates attended
Oxford High School and she was amazed that she was honored in this way by us.”
According to Sadak, the fiberglass and aluminum mounts for the
banners will be stored for use again in Raymond in the future.
“We could use them for holiday banners, for election banners or
any variety of purposes,” she said. <
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