Schools, graduates  showed adaptability

To the graduating high school seniors of Worcester County, their teachers, support staff, advisors and the administrators who put it all together, well done.

The graduation of these classes of 2021, from north to south, and both public and private schools, might have been accompanied by a great exhale countywide, as all involved surely wondered at some point whether these days of caps and gowns would arrive on schedule.

That they did is a testament to their ability to adjust to circumstances that were unimaginable some 18 months ago, when the covid-19 pandemic had only begun its ruinous spread into every corner of our existence.

Last year’s graduations were remarkable in their own right, as the pandemic began to gain strength, but the students and school personnel in the scholastic cycle just concluded endured a full year of doubt, sacrifice and urgent improvisation just to see the year through.

No one could know a year ago that the pandemic’s decline in this country would require 12 more months of having to invent new ways to achieve some sort of success despite the vicissitudes of covid-19.

In a way, this viral seige tested schools and students  for a skill that can’t be taught and yet is a vital part of the human pursuit — adaptability.

These graduations prove they not only passed, but that they also emerged a little stronger. The knowledge that they can overcome adversity will serve them well as they encounter other, and frequently lesser, obstacles along the way.

Our hats are off to the graduates, teachers, school employees and officials who found a way to push themselves and to help each other over this unprecedented adversity. The future will be better for it.