Under blue skies on Aug. 3, Branford High School (BHS) celebrated modified graduation exercises for some 150 members Class of 2020, during three outdoor graduation ceremonies on the school field. The Aug. 3 programs were offered as an option to students who did not participate in the June 14-15 part virtual, part-drive up graduation exercises, which drew 78 members of the BHS Class of 2020.

Using social distancing, groups of no more than 50 classmates shared in one of three commencement programs led by BHS principal Lee Panagoulias, Jr. The ceremonies were attended by small family groups seated in the stands.

During commencement events held at 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Aug. 3, Panagoulias welcomed the Class of 2020. At the 5 p.m. ceremony, he presented awards to 2020 Class Valedictorian Diana Karosas and Salutatorian Joshua Josephy-Zack. Diplomas were conferred to members of the Class of 2020 by Superintendent of Schools Hamlet Hernandez and Board of Education chair Shannen Sharkey.

The ceremony began with graduates in red caps and gowns marching onto the school field to a recorded version of Pomp and Circumstance and taking their seats in the center of field, on chairs spaced six feet apart.

As Panagoulias noted in his welcoming remarks, the day's blue skies above gave no hint of Tropical Storm Isaias, due to impact Branford on Aug. 4. 

"In no way has anything been normal about the last five months," Panagoulias told them. "But a least Mother Nature has given us a break, and although a little bit warm, we avoided the remnants of a tropical storm."

BHS Social Studies teacher Joel Hinrichs was selected by the class to give the commencement address. Noting he'd already spoken about the Class of 2020's four years together in his June 14 live-streamed speech, Hinrichs said this speech would focus on their future. He said that, on a national level, the graduates face a presidential election, a country struggling with how to remember its past, and balancing the issues of civil rights and law and order; public health and a desire to return to normalcy; environmental protection and economic gains; international leadership and isolationism.

"It's more important than ever that our young voters engage in thoughtful, honest discussions of these subjects," Hinrichs said.

He encouraged the graduates to base their opinions on facts and evidence from reliable, non-partisan sources and to avoid "simple answers to complex questions."

"You need to be able to talk to those who hold opposing views," Hinrichs said. "You must be willing to listen. A common understanding and compromise should be the goal, but may not always be possible. But demonizing those with opposing views is not the answer."

On a more personal level, the biggest question on graduates' minds might be "...what does this pandemic mean for me and my future plans?" Hinrichs opined.  "The honest answer is, I don't know, nor does anybody else. But I can say with absolute certainty that sometime in the not too distant future [you] will be back in classrooms without masks, going to concerts with friends [and] attending graduations without crowd restrictions."

Hinrichs also advised the graduates that while research, planning and hard work helped bring them to this point in their lives and to begin mapping their next steps, "...life is unpredictable;" but relationships in all aspects of life, such as those made during their years at BHS, will help to guide them.

"Your new setting may be in flux; but your story will always be one of relationships," said Hinrichs.

Class of 2020 president Hailey Brunner took the graduates through their years as elementary, intermediate and high school students together, noting, "...our BHS journey began on August 29, 2016. To quote Charles Dickens, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

While senior year was "...the year we had been waiting for," Brunner said, "...as we were just getting comfortable on our senior couches and ready to start our senior slide, a pandemic struck the world. Wouldn't that be a terrible ending in our story together? Thankfully our story is far from over. We have just reached one of the many plot twists that will continue to arise as we write the story of our lives."

Brunner called BHS Class of 2020 "...the class that one day will change the world," filled with kind-hearted, future leaders who've won state championships, debate gavels and protested for change; thanked teachers at the end of each period and organized fundraisers for the town.

"Thank you, Branford High School Class of 2020, for being the best characters in our story," Brunner told her classmates. "I am so excited to see what's next for all of us."

As he had discussed the accomplishments of the Class of 2020 during the June 14 live-streamed virtual commencement ceremony; Panagoulias said he wanted to share something a bit different with the Class of 2020 on Aug. 3; a class which he said showed many acts of kindness and a dedication to life-long learning.

"Since that [video] has already by posted and seen by most of you, the question I have for you now is how have you spent your last five months? How will you spend the next five months?" Panagoulias asked them. "If you've spent the last five months helping someone that was struggling during the pandemic -- physically, emotionally, economically -- will you continue those efforts when the pandemic is over? If you took time to understand [the] protests and marchers, or who [late U.S. Congressman] John Lewis was; if you took time to listen and learn to someone who has experienced social injustice or racism; will you continue past this summer?"

Panagoulias said what the Class of 2020 experienced over the past five months "...sets the stage for the next five months, five years; in fact the rest of your lives. We know you have what it takes, and we are confident that you will take [the] challenges that lie ahead and make the world truly a better place for all of us."

More BHS Class of 2020 details, photos and class member lists published in June by The Sound can be found online at www.zip06.com.