High school seniors are experiencing a different end-of-year in 2020. A high school senior from Indiana, who will be attending Belmont University in the fall, put her feelings into a song after finding out her last year of high school was ending not how she thought.
On Thursday, March 19, 2020 Crawfordsville High School senior, Abby Bannon (18), was talking with her mentor, Grace Stewart, after hearing her school would not open again for the remainder of the academic year. For the class of 2020, the spring semester has changed dramatically.
“COVID-19 is causing cancellations or postponements of the major milestones we’ve looked forward to, over the last three and a half years of high school,” says Abby in a release — and it’s why she, Grace, and their friend Rhett Thomas, wrote out the lyrics about the losses of every 2020 graduating senior; as a way to cope with the curveball none of her classmates expected.
The song is called “Here’s to You” and it’s becoming a rallying point, uniting teens across the country.
“Grace, Rhett and I wrote this song to recognize and honor those in the class of 2020 who are being affected by the spread of this virus,” she says. “Because so much is being taken from them right now — things like their spring seasons, senior prom, and everything else that comes with the send-off into the next season of life — we wanted to do our part in bringing hope, and hopefully encourage those being affected.”
A student athlete and senior class president, Abby realizes missing high school moments isn’t the worst that could happen, especially during a health crisis.
“I keep reminding myself and my friends that it really could be so much worse for us,” she said. “Obviously this stinks and we’re missing out on a lot, but there are so many better days ahead and so many other things to look forward to.”
Abby, top 10 in her class, is headed to Belmont University in Nashville to study business and music. But for now, it’s an emotional loss seniors and their families are facing.
