Merced County Class of 2022 hailed as ‘resilient bunch’ who overcame COVID challenges

Caps flew high around Merced County this week as this year’s class of high school seniors celebrated graduation and the start of the next chapter of their lives.

As those students and their loved ones gathered alongside educators at campuses across the county Thursday and Friday, the accomplishment of finishing school and partaking in longtime graduation traditions represented an especially notable feat for the class of ‘22.

Merced County Office of Education Superintendent Steve Tietjen attended several of those ceremonies around Merced County this week.

“The students were thrilled to be there. Families were super happy to be back in person and watch their young adults go through the graduation ceremony,” he said.

“The kids, as they lined up, were talking about how different it is to be back to something that’s normal. They’ve spent two years in situations that are not.”

Compared to the thousands of students who graduated before them, the class of 2022 had to leap over uniquely challenging hurdles to earn their diplomas.

Class of ‘22 saw brunt of COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the course of education in early 2020. This year’s graduates spent about half of their high school career navigating frequent adjustments as classrooms adapted to the threat of the virus and an uncertain future.

Students, educators and parents made the quick pivot to fully online learning when the pandemic first struck in 2020. They spent the subsequent months monitoring the state of the pandemic, eventually moving to hybrid online and in-person learning as the severity of the virus’s spread decreased.

“The class of ‘22 felt the full brunt of the pandemic, going into it and coming out of it,” Merced Union High School District Superintendent Alan Peterson told the Sun-Star.

Some local schools didn’t welcome back full in-person classes until the start of this academic year last fall.

Even then, campuses looked quite different than the last time students filled the halls. Students and staff were required to mask up indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and adhere to other pandemic precautions.

While many students struggled, Peterson said teams of counselors, teachers and administrators at schools throughout Merced County all worked hard to help students push through to graduation.

“They’re a resilient bunch,” Peterson said of Merced County students, teachers and parents. “Our community has handled this difficulty pretty darn well.”

Although COVID-19 forced classroom to quickly and unexpectedly adapt, educators say some of those adjustments resulted in positive changes for schools.

The pandemic revealed discrepancies in at-home support systems, showing instructors that they must meet students individual needs to help them succeed, Tietjen said.

As a result, most school districts are hiring more mental health professionals, social workers, counselors and nurses, Tietjen said.

MCOE is also partnering with Merced County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services on a program that will provide another layer of support and counseling next school year.

Graduations marked by joy, sense of accomplishment

Although high school graduation ceremonies were held mostly in-person last year, district officials say the pandemic cast a larger shadow over those celebrations compared to this week’s festivities.

At that time, fewer individuals were protected against the virus by the COVID-19 vaccine. Graduation ceremonies were moderated with social distancing and the number of attendees permitted was limited.

This year felt different, educators say.

Thursday was also special for Merced High, as it was the school’s first graduation ceremony in the new on-campus Cathie Hostetler Stadium.

Peterson attended Golden Valley High School’s Thursday evening ceremony.

Between the school band’s jazz performance and attendees partaking in the tradition of touching the school’s bronze cougar statue at the end of the ceremony, the festivities hearkened back to the joy and energy felt during pre-pandemic celebrations, he said.

“People were just happy,” Peterson said. “It felt great. Especially for this class.”

Even though the class of 2022 faced challenges unlike other high school students before them, instructors say this class of graduates demonstrated a striking ability to acclimate and succeed amid unparalleled circumstances.

“The ability to adapt and be flexible and persevere through life’s difficulties is a skill that all of them gained,” Peterson said.

Tietjen also said he noted a sense of pride and relief among students lining up for graduation, knowing that they’ve already overcome an immense challenge.

While it’s always his hope that students leave high school with a sense of self confidence, determination and grit, the class of 2022 had to persevere and persist to a greater extent than most students before them, he said.

“For over a hundred years, we haven’t had a group of high school students have to face a pandemic, have to learn to be independent thinkers and (be) individually motivated to get through their high school coursework,” Tietjen said.

“This is a class that I think will be able to meet unique challenges in the future. I’m looking forward to see what they’re going to accomplish.”