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JCPS seniors having unexpected final year of high school

Activities like prom and graduation aren't guaranteed, while getting help with college applications has to be done virtually.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With so many exciting milestones put on pause, high school seniors are not having the final year they might have imagined.

“I was looking forward to prom, looking forward to my senior walk, graduating with all my friends,” said Teyolanalicee Jewell, a senior at Seneca High School.

Jewell has hope that some of those end of the year events will happen, but others, like her final season as a member of the color guard, could not happen.

“I was in marching band from my freshman year all the way to this year, if we were having a season this year,” Jewell said.

JCPS seniors are watching their final year of high school fly by, without being able to see their friends or do the activities that made their school experience so special.

It is not just the social aspect they’re missing out on — they are not able to receive that in-person help with things like submitting scholarship or college applications.

“There are Google classrooms specifically for seniors where they can get information about scholarships, where they can request help,” Seneca Assistant Principal Nureka Dixon said.

Dixon said she is used to keeping track of her student’s progress by asking them in the hallways. Now, she is forced to rely on virtual methods.

Still, Dixon said she is hopeful her seniors will see the inside of the classroom this year. All JCPS teachers who want COVID-19 vaccinations will receive their first dose by Feb. 9. Then, educators will receive a second dose starting Feb. 19.

JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio says he will submit a plan to return to in-person learning once teachers begin receiving their second dose.

“We’re going to have some time left and we’re going to make it count,” Dixon said. “We’re going to make it an experience they won’t forget.”

Jewell is hopeful too — that she will end the year at school, as well as hopeful about her future, where she will attend JCTC next year.

“I do have a whole lot of hope for me to be able to go back because I miss all my friends, and it was a whole lot easier being in class than doing it online,” Jewell said.

RELATED: 'No more goalpost-moving': McConnell calls out JCPS board's reluctance to return to class

RELATED: 'It seems like we aren’t being valued' | Indiana teachers call on Holcomb to allow vaccinations now

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