Abigail Duncan was an eighth-grader when the call came down.
It was March 13, 2020 – Friday, the 13th – and Gov. Jim Justice had just ordered all public schools in West Virginia shuttered, in response to COVID, which was nipping at the state’s borders.
Schools immediately pivoted to remote learning.
“And that was it,” she said.
“We never really got the transition from middle school to high school, but that’s just how it was.”
Saturday morning, Abigail was on her way to transitioning out of high school, as a member of Morgantown High’s Class of 2024.
Gathering in the school gym with her fellow seniors for one final time, she was philosophical as she looked back on her school years that were like no other, due to the aforementioned global pandemic.
It took a little bit, she said, but she did catch up – socially, emotionally and academically.
Abigail thoroughly enjoyed football season under the Friday night lights of Pony Lewis Field as a member of Morgantown High’s renowned marching band, she said.
Now, she’s looking forward to fall, where she’ll begin her studies in forensic science at WVU.
“I wanted to focus on the experiences I had,” she said. “Not what was taken away.”
Which was the unofficial theme of the school’s 141st commencement on the turf of that football field.
Seniors filed onto the field during the sunny morning while their families filled the stands to punctuate the moment with cheers.
And cellphone snaps. Lots of them.
“Your grandma wants pictures, so don’t take off,” one mom said.
Principal Paul Mihalko smiled at the happy tumult, as milled about and tended to last-minute details before the start of the ceremonies.
With academic success and athletic success, the principal said, 440 seniors going forth shouldn’t be shy about feeling proud.
“I’m proud of them,” the principal said.
“Because of the pandemic, these kids came in not knowing what school is ‘supposed’ to be like,” Mihalko continued, “but they persevered and they achieved.”
Let that trend continue, said class president Alexis Proctor, who will be a freshman at Liberty University this fall.
“From today on, no longer dwell on any regrets you may have,” she said. “This is but a small chapter in our book of life, and we can accomplish many more great things.”
Meanwhile, the newly minted graduates of MHS are bound for 65 universities from California to Iceland, she said, while others are directly joining the workforce or America’s armed forces.
Not bad for a class whose freshmen year was derailed by a contagion, she said.
Preston Hetrick, Abigail’s friend who will study political science at Georgetown, seconded that.
“It started out being weird,” he said.
“But it worked out.”
