Masks & Memories at elementary school

Rylee Schmidt (left) and Brooke Swenhaugen were two of the more energetic Tracy Area Elementary School graduates who were recognized at last Friday’s graduation ceremony. Please see Page 12 for more images from the event. Photo / Per Peterson

By Per Peterson

The Class of 2027 graduated last Friday from Tracy Area Elementary School, and although they didn’t have to wear masks, they chose to as a way to bring their school year to an appropriate close.

“We’ll remember a lot of different things about this school year — this was definitely a school year to remember,” Principal Michael Munson said, as he opened Friday’s ceremony.

This year’s class motto was “Mastering Masks and Memories That Last.”

“I think we can all remember putting masks on for any length of time,” said Munson. “We felt like we couldn’t breathe, like we couldn’t do anything for more than an hour.”

Munson said as the school year went on most students got used to wearing masks, and even though there were some classes that were put into quarantine, the school year was completed without a permanent shift to distance learning like last spring.

See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.