On June 10th, what would have been the day of Pennsbury’s annual Commencement ceremony, the PHS community celebrated the Senior Class of 2020 in a variety of carefully-planned ways. In the morning, more than 100 PHS faculty and staff members volunteered to hand-deliver special gift bags to the homes of each of the 780 seniors. Following this, a plane trailing a customized banner with a special message for the seniors flew over all four School District municipalities – Tullytown, Falls, Yardley, and Lower Makefield — criss-crossing Pennsbury for two hours! The senior gifts and the flyover were funded by the Student Council and the PTO. That evening, a pre-recorded video, “Salute to the PHS Class of 2020,” premiered on the Pennsbury Channel.
“The idea for these senior surprises came out of a PHS teacher PAC meeting,” explained PHS West Acting Principal, Cherrissa Gibson. “Everyone wanted to find a way to show the seniors support given the school closure.” In addition to Assistant Principal Patricia Steckroat, who oversees the annual graduation details, four teachers took leadership roles for this year’s celebration: Liz Titano, Courtney De La Pena, Doug Campbell, and Erica Rudesyle.
“I would also like to say a special thank you to the staff behind the making of the “Salute to the PHS Class of 2020” video, added Ms. Gibson. “Patricia Steckroat, Dan Mahoney, and Kelly Lewis put in many hours to create the final production that aired on the evening of June 10th.”
The high school administration remains hopeful that a live graduation event may still be possible for the Class of 2020 at Falcon Field in late July.