5-22-2021 2:39am

Alamogordo High Graduation Celebrated with Fireworks and Cheers

Chris Edwards Editor

The Alamogordo Tigers High School Class of 2021 walked the diploma line Friday night to cheers graduating in one of the weirdest school years in history as the Covid-19 nightmare fades into the twilight. Anyone in the town of Alamogordo from any vantage point in the city could see the stadium lights within the nights sky. Within earshot of most of the town people could hear cheers and clapping as each graduate walked across the stage to receive their diploma in what has to be one of the oddest school years of record.

This graduating class endured remote learning due to Covid-19 most of the year. Those in many extra-curricular activities ended up seeing those events curtailed or abridged. Those in interscholastic sports both boys and girls had the oddest seasons in the history of New Mexico interscholastic sports which began in 1912.

Even during the world wars classes continued and interscholastic play prevailed. The great flu of 1918 there were mask requirements yet many sports events for men only went on. The year of 2021 saw sports overlapping and schedules abridged. Some sports will continue to compete into the summer. Golf, baseball, softball, track and field meets and state meets will be conducted in June well past graduation. Will student athletes continue to participate after graduation to finalize the season? We will soon find out!

The seniors prevailed in an unprecedented year, scholarships awarded and college or the adult world is now just around the corner for the 2021 graduating class. Friday night was a celebration. Fireworks field the air with the grand finale' to send the seniors off to their next phase of life. The year began with a whimper due to Covid-19 but thanks to science and technology normalcy is coming back and the outlook for these young seniors could not be brighter. Opportunities do prevail, the economy is opening back up, we have a renewed respect for science, technology, engineering and mathematics and we know that the world will be a better place thanks to these young ambitious young leaders moving into adulthood with an open mind to the opportunities and the issues ahead.