To the Editor:

We are writing to the Guilderland community.

It is without question that the months since we were last in school have been hard for everyone in our community, especially for the students in the senior class. We have lost the end of our last year of high school, our senior ball, the senior picnic, and the excitement and reflection that comes during this time.

Yes, this has been devastating for all Guilderland families, students, and faculty, but we, as the Class of 2020 officers, are extremely proud of the work we have put in, not only over the past four years, but especially in the past three months to celebrate and honor our fellow seniors.

As the Class of 2020 officers, we have been working hard to find and execute ways to honor our class during these hard times. We are proud of the creativity, effort, and many hours of work put forth to make this unprecedented time as special as possible. We have worked hard despite our own feelings of sadness for the loss of the end of our senior year.

We feel hurt and heartbroken that some people cannot see or appreciate how much work has been put in to celebrate our graduating class. We are choosing to focus on the positive and what we have accomplished during this time.

The parade on June 1 was conceptualized and voted on by the Class of 2020 officers. We, the students, were the ones who wanted this event. We longed for a way to see our teachers, to celebrate, and experience a day of pride for our accomplishments at Guilderland High School.

We feel grateful, honored, and certainly not dismissed. The parade was emotional, enthusiastic, joyful, and the opposite of anticlimactic. We are grateful for and feel celebrated by the teachers and staff that cheered at every single student as they drove around the high school. Guilderland pride is strong.

We have put countless hours into creating an Instagram page that honors seniors and their post-graduate plans. As officers, we wanted to do this for all seniors and their families as a way to recognize their individual plans following graduation, and we feel that this was appreciated.

Additionally, the Class of 2020 has always had a policy of transparency. The money that we have raised as a class over the past four years has gone to many places: annual donations to various charities and individuals in need; handling of the homecoming dance for four years; junior prom; and more recently, keychains and yard signs for seniors; and a large donation to the COVID-19 relief fund in Albany County.

We voted that we would rather donate money to people who are really suffering during this time than spend it to put our faces on signs. Other districts including Bethlehem, Niskayuna, Ballston Spa, and North Colonie did not, in fact, hand out personalized signs. To clarify, Senior Ball expenses are paid with Senior Ball ticket sales, so we did not receive any money from the cancellation of our Senior Ball. The extra money we did have went towards a donation to the COVID-19 relief fund and gifts to all 376 seniors.

The Guilderland School District has worked hard to support and celebrate our class. The ceremony at the Jericho Drive-In, the stage walk to get our diplomas, and the parade put on by the Class of 2020, all made us feel proud and celebrated. We are beyond appreciative of all of the efforts made by the administrators, teachers, staff, school board, and especially our class advisors to honor all of us in the class of 2020.

We are proud of the hard work we have put into celebrating our class during this extraordinary time. We are proud to have united to have a spectacular parade, and of all the little gestures we did to celebrate our peers. We are proud to be GHS alumni, and we will never forget the end of our senior year. 

Anna Ashery

Grace Cassella

Kaitlin Daviero

Isabella DiMura

Laila Jerome

Collin Kapusinsky

Ryan Kapusinsky

Alyssa Koh

Alyssa Landry

Sarah Lindberg

Rashmina Sayeeda

Madeline Sullivan

Jeff Trzeciak

The Class of 2020 Officers

Guilderland High School