After watching the pandemic hijack final year festivities time after time for last year’s Senior Class at St. Joseph High School, a new Parent Senior Committee has been established at the school this year in a bid to assure that the class of 2021 isn’t impacted nearly as severely, or short-changed on the celebratory front.
Despite a pandemic that continues to cancel life events, students and families of Saint Joseph High School’s 2021 class are on a mission to celebrate their graduates. After missing out on countless school functions including field trips, junior prom, concerts and musicals, robotics, club gatherings and sporting activities, they’re working to salvage what little is left for the senior’s last year. The group, called the Parent Senior Committee, is asking for community support to help fund a special commencement celebration as well as a series of small, Friday surprises for the month of May.
SJHS parent and committee co-chair, Jamie Bingaman explains the issue, saying, “Many of us felt so bad for last year’s class because of how their senior year ended, but this class has it worse.” She further notes, “Their entire senior year was basically hijacked by the pandemic and now we just want to find a way to make them feel celebrated and give them a send off to remember because they missed out on so many milestones.”
Along with her co-chair, Janna Conybeare, and a growing charge of committed parent volunteers, the pair feel that these students have done a lot for the community and now it’s time for the community to give back, reminding the community, “These kids work for many local businesses and over the years have supported our stores and restaurants and coffee shops in more ways than one. They may only be high school students but they’ve contributed to the health and well-being of Berrien County, so we don’t think it’s asking too much for our community to recognize that and thank them by doing their part to help.”
Residents and businesses are asked to consider making a contribution through the group’s GoFundMe account at this link: https://gofund.me/1c27a1b8
To help ensure the events and efforts are facilitated properly, volunteers are needed as well as in-kind donations. For more information, or to find out how to help, you can email 2021seniorclassparentcommittee@gmail.com or call Jamie Bingaman at 269-932-2397.
