Riverview High School graduation at Riverside Park more traditional than last year

Sydney Marie Wilson could not help but have mixed emotions after walking on stage and receive her diploma as a Riverview High School graduate June 10.

She and 57 others made up the small Oakmont school’s Class of 2021.

“It’s exciting that I get to go on and do more things, but it’s sad leaving behind everything I’ve known since seventh grade (and) everyone moving on,” Sydney said.

District families were treated to as much of a traditional graduation as possible coming out of the pandemic.

Students, staff, administrators and parents were all outside on the field of Riverside Park along Third Avenue, adjacent to the school. There were gray clouds all around, but the rain held out.

Sydney was recognized as one of 11 distinguished scholars having maintained a GPA of 4.0 or higher for four years.

“A lot of hard work and studying,” Sydney said was the secret to success. “Just managing to balance my school work and extracurriculars and just putting in a lot of time and effort.”

Her father, Bob Wilson, was grateful to share in the graduation experience.

“I’m just proud of everything she’s been able to accomplished,” Wilson said. “It’s been a great four years here. It’s beautiful they pulled it off. It looked a little shaky with the rain for a while, but they came through. It was good.”

Administrators erred on the side of caution as the pre-commencement parade was canceled due to the projected bad weather.

“It’s actually a fitting end to this year,” Superintendent Neil English said. “You’ve got to be flexible. You’ve got to change things on the fly. That’s what the year was, and graduation was no different.”

Unity, strength, respect and kindness were among the main points made by speakers at the event.

Salutatorian Alyse Johnson and valedictorian Sofia Bear highlighted some of the obstacles that were overcome this past school year.

“We have all had to deal with challenges related to the pandemic,” Alyse said. “I’m not assuming that these struggles were all equal, but everyone had something of their own to deal with. For most of us, it was more than just having to figure out having to learn virtually, but also dealing with the cancellation of important events and missing out with being with each other in person.

“On top of that, we all had to deal with the uncertainty of what would happen next and when our lives would return to what we considered normal.

”But look at us now. We are all here graduating. We got through it. We accepted the challenge and surpassed it. Whether we consciously chose to or not, we changed.”

Sofia said her quarantine experience taught her that time is precious and fleeting.

“We have gained a unity unlike any other graduating class prior to us,” she said. “We, not only as a graduating class but as a society, sacrificed so much in order to protect those around us. We banded together through social distancing, mask wearing and getting our vaccines so we can return this world to some state of normalcy. We put up with whatever 2020 and 2021 through at us. Although we are not out of the woods yet, we seem to be coming to a clearing. … I know whatever the world throws at us we will conquer, because we have already conquered so much.”

Senior singers Sydney, Alexio Pietro Ciorra, Lauren Lynn Dugan and Tenaeja Savannah Sheffey sung the national anthem, “And Wherever You Go” and the district’s alma mater.

Riverview’s graduation last year was at the Riverside Drive-in Theater in Parks Township. There were no walks across stage or conferring of diplomas. However, seniors in attendance stood outside their cars and were featured on the movie screen individually.

English said even though that was an awesome experience for students and staff, it was great to be back in a more traditional setting.

“It’s just nice to get back to normal a little bit,” English said. “It just feels like we’re getting back to business. It’s more traditional, and we’re all back together on the field where we are every year. It feels good.”