May 27, 2021
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
GoldenTranscript.net
VOLUME 155 | ISSUE 23
The graduates do the hand jive dance.
PHOTO BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO
Golden Class of 2021 celebrates completing “maze of high school” during graduation Sans masks, students walked across stage to brighter future BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO PALBANIBURGIO@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Graduations are usually hopeful, celebratory events. But when you’ve finished your high school career
amid the disruptions and challenges brought on by the worst global pandemic in well over a century, the pomp and circumstance take on a whole new level of significance. That’s the case for Golden High School’s Class of 2021 and the unusual nature of their junior and senior years — and the comparative normalcy of the graduation day that was ending it — were discussed often during their graduation ceremony on May 20 at Jeffco Stadium
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 28
in Lakewood. Principal Brian Conroy pointed out early in the ceremony that it was taking place not only on a beautiful day but in a stadium where students were sitting together without masks and more than four guests per student were allowed to come. Neither was the case during the tightly-regulated Class of 2020 commencement held in August. “If nothing else, that in itself is a celebration,” said Conroy. “And if
2021 has given us nothing else, it’s taught us to take celebrations wherever you can find them.” But as one of the student speakers at the ceremony made clear, that lesson was far from their four years at Golden High and, especially, the most unusual one that ended their time at the school. “This past year, it was a test run,” one of the senior speakers, Alice SEE GRADUATION, P22
TRAIL CHANGES
Big crowds and changing mask mandates affect area trails P16