After Wild Year, LHS Class of 2021 Graduates

Their senior year started one week late, but finished right on time.

The La Grange High School Class of 2021 endured their final year of instruction under the cloud of a pandemic that postponed the start of school and kept them behind masks.

But Thursday those masks were off and the seniors’ smiles were fully visible in front of a stadium full of people as they graduated.

Several seniors spoke during the ceremony, striking a balanced tone between looking back with fondness and looking forward with excitement.

“Many of us have been waiting for this moment since we were tiny freshmen, Let’s graduate!” said Isis Debrock in her opening remarks.

“The last 13 years have pre pared us for what is coming...but we must enjoy every second we have left together,” said senior Missy Muras.

“Don’t be scared of what lies ahead. Enjoy the Now,” senior Lily Nygrin said, before she quoted Winnie the Pooh saying, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

The featured speaker Thursday was three-time paralympic medalist Thomas Bourgeios of San Antonio.

He spoke about how he was born without a bone in his leg and had the leg amputated before his first birthday, but his parents never treated him any differently than his siblings.

“I had to learn to adapt,” Bourgeios told the graduates. “The choices you make determine how successful you will be.”

Some 154 seniors were presented diplomas Thursday, amidst the loud applause of family and friends. Each senior was allowed to invite 15 people to the ceremony – a vast increase over last year’s much more subdued graduation during the height of the pandemic.

One chair amidst the graduates sat empty, covered with a graduation gown and a white flower, an ode to Kyla Drozd, a member of this class who died last year. She would have been graduating this night, too.

After they got their diplomas, the graduates converged near midfield of the football stadium for one final moment together – and threw their caps into the night sky.

The caps fell onto the green natural grass of the football stadium.

By Friday that grass was already being torn up to make way for the stadium’s new artificial turf.