A tip of the graduation cap
It’s hard to find easy answers to difficult questions. The question before the administration and school board was how to appropriately recognize the 2020 graduating class, while at the same time complying with state mandates and the looming specter of an invisible virus that seemed to thwart our best efforts and intentions. Graduation was a conundrum. From the perspective of the Brunswick School Administration, it was a no-win situation.
The first response to such a challenge will always be conservative. A reluctance to stick out your neck and draw the ire of multiple constituencies. The response to the first proposal was predictable… push back, unhappiness, and disappointment. What happened next was less predictable in these contentious times… listening, collaboration, involvement, respect, and creativity. The Brunswick High Class of 2020 raised their voice, but did so respectfully and productively befitting their accomplishments and reputation. The Administration and School Board took all their comments to heart. They could easily have been glossed over. Ignored. But this is Brunswick and everyone wanted a commencement ceremony centered on community, spirit, pride, and celebration.
And it came together beautifully at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station. Hundreds of cars in a row outside Hangar 6, directed there by the smiling and waving Brunswick Police Department. Families in cars with graduates hanging out the windows and sunroofs. The first mention of the Class of 2020 is met with a cacophony of car horns and whoots. The administration and faculty with unmistakable smiles hidden behind masks as a collective sigh of relief swept over the crowd. This is what we needed: togetherness. The class of 2020 HAD to graduate together. Was it perfect? Who’s to say. Was it necessary? Absolutely. So a tip of the graduation hat is well deserved to the BHS Administration, the Brunswick School Board and Class of 2020. Well done.
D.J. Shaughnessy,
Brunswick
Vote Gideon
Maine U.S. Sen. Susan Collins sweetly smiles for a photographer as she shakes hands with Donald Trump. She’s a fan and a sycophant who didn’t have the courage to join him in Guilford during his tour of Puritan Medical Products. Her excuse? She was working in Washington and had visited the plant the previous week.
Collins wants to play it safe. She wants to court Republicans, Democrats and Independents. A Republican, she may have been a moderate at some point in her long career. No longer; she’s now cowering behind her desk and beholden to Mitch McConnell and deep pocket donors.
Our very democracy is at stake but Susan Collins has no backbone to stand up to Donald Trump. It’s time for her to vacate her U.S. Senate seat. We need someone who will not tolerate haters and fear mongers. It’s time for Collins to stop protecting Trump. Elect Sara Gideon – she’ll take on the bullies.
Connie Sage Conner,
Harpswell.
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