Class of 2020 Hawaii Catholic high school graduates will be receiving their diplomas following social distancing guidelines. Top row, Kenneth “KJ” Soong; middle row, Jocelyn Corpuz; bottom row, Chanah Tanioka and Aubree Davis. (Courtesy photos)
Local Catholic twelfth graders share about the impact of COVID-19 on the end of high school
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Like twelfth graders across the country, Hawaii Catholic school seniors have seen a radical change to the end of their high school careers after the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S.
Instead of senior farewells, AP exams in the library, Baccalaureate Masses, and cap-and-gown graduation ceremonies at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, these students have had to switch to distance learning, online exams and group chats with friends, and virtual commencements.
But for the four Hawaii Catholic high schoolers we spoke to, what they miss more than traditional graduation events are hanging out with their friends, their extracurricular activities and sports, and sometimes even their uniforms.
Catholic high school seniors Aubree Davis, Chanah Tanioka, Kenneth Soong and Jocelyn Corpuz (Courtesy photos)
Kenneth Soong
Saint Louis School, Oahu
Shortly before Hawaii’s shelter-in-place order went into effect, Kenneth “KJ” Soong got to attend the Saint Louis School prom. But he only had one judo meet before the Interscholastic League of Honolulu canceled the rest of the school sports seasons. Now he trains at home by himself or with his brother’s help.
Soong said he actually misses putting on his school uniform — a shirt and tie — and going to school every day since it put him in an academic mindset.
“Every day to me feels like a weekend right now because we’re home every day,” Soong said.
When it switched to distance learning in March, Saint Louis decided not to require live classes of its students in consideration of families that have several children in school requiring computer use at the same time or if teachers had live classes that conflicted with each other.
Since his teachers post the next day’s video classes and assignments online the night prior, he usually does all of his schoolwork in the evening and then can sleep in the next day and do what he’d like.
Soong is headed to Arizona State University next year and plans to study sustainability or business. And it bothers him that he may not get to see many of his classmates again before going off to college, especially if there are no in-person graduation activities.
Among the traditional events Soong will not get to do is Project Grad. Baccalaureate Mass will be pre-recorded, and graduation will take place but with one graduate and four family members entering Mamiya Theatre at a time to receive a lei and diploma and to take a photo. The senior luau is postponed until August.
Soong’s been group chatting, texting, FaceTiming and doing the occasional Zoom call with his friends since quarantine started.
“Not seeing your friends every day is the hardest part,” Soong said. He even misses the familiarity of teachers that aren’t necessarily favorites or classmates he doesn’t know that well. “You miss everyone’s face.”
Jocelyn Corpuz
St. Anthony School, Maui
There are only 12 students in the graduating senior class at St. Anthony School in Wailuku, Maui, and they are a close-knit group.
Twelfth grader Jocelyn Corpuz, who plans to study nursing at Seattle University in the fall, said that having in-person classes stopped suddenly due to COVID-19 took everyone by surprise.
“When we were leaving for spring break, I thought I’d see them again,” Corpuz said. “I thought, ‘I don’t really need to really say a serious goodbye.’ I realized that I missed out on the opportunity.”
Instead, she and classmates have a daily group chat going and she hopes that over the upcoming winter break, they’ll be able to gather for the in-person farewell they can’t have now.
Corpuz said distance learning has been going well.
“I know that the teachers are working really hard to give me the same quality of education, so I’m really grateful for their efforts in it,” she said.
She is missing some service activities for the National Honor Society and the final band concert of the year that is normally a tribute to seniors. Graduation will be semi-virtual, with a drive-in graduation ceremony including immediate family in the car with each graduate. The ceremony will also be streamed online.
Most important to her is that her parents get to see her graduate since they have sacrificed to send her to St. Anthony’s since she was in preschool.
“My parents since they worked so hard to send me here, I feel like it’s a huge accomplishment for me to just walk up on the stage where everyone can see how much effort they put into raising me,” Corpuz said.
Sacred Hearts Academy senior Chanah Tanioka is finishing her high school career with online classes, like this religion class on April 30. (Photo courtesy Chanah Tanioka )
Aubree Davis and Chanah Tanioka
Sacred Hearts Academy, Oahu
Sacred Hearts Academy is running its virtual high school day much like it would on campus. There’s flag raising, and classes run from morning to early afternoon, broken down into hourlong sessions with 30-minute breaks in between, though there’s no lunch period.
One upside to online classes for senior Chanah Tanioka is that her teachers let students eat lunch in class since they are on “mute” and no one can hear them eating. A downside, she said, is that you’re staring at a screen all day.
“I’m missing the feeling of going to school because as dreadful as it is to wake up early in the morning, school’s always good,” Tanioka said. “Getting up, washing your face, going to school, eating breakfast with your friends and interacting with people.”
Fellow Sacred Hearts senior Aubree Davis said it is nice to roll out of bed and log into class. “And the value of learning is still as great online as it would be in class,” she said, adding that she appreciates all the work her teachers have done to adapt to virtual learning environment.
But, Davis elaborated, “I know a lot of seniors can agree with me that a part of me misses waking up at 5:30 in the morning to get to school on time. I never thought I wouldn’t put my uniform on again.”
“This pandemic has really made me value my uniform, value being on campus and being at school, value being with my friends,” she said.
Tanioka also misses the Sacred Hearts uniform, an elaborate sailor suit-like outfit with a pleated skirt, blouse, tie, and detachable collar and cuffs that dates to the school’s founding in 1909.
“For the last week I may actually start wearing it … in honor of Sacred Hearts,” she said.
Other things that are different with virtual learning are the ballet classes that Tanioka now does on Zoom along with her teacher rather than in the school dance studio. Project Grad, a big celebratory night after their graduation ceremony that seniors fundraise for well in advance, has been canceled. There will be no Senior Farewell show or the chance for the younger grades to rush to their new bleacher sections in the gym after the seniors process out.
Tanioka, an Augustine Educational Foundation PWH Scholar, hopes her plan to go to Oregon State University in the fall will be on track. Davis is also worried about whether the novel coronavirus will affect her going to the University of Notre Dame this coming school year.
But she’s come to accept the atypical end to her senior year because of the quarantine.
“Everything happens for a reason, and I think that a lot of that has to do with God and God’s plan,” Davis said. “We’re put in this situation for some reason.”
“That’s kind of like the hope that I hang on to,” she said. “We’re not having a graduation but it doesn’t mean the end of the world.”
