What a year.

Students and parents alike are confronting a life-changing pandemic, learning new concepts like social distancing and virtual learning. For many parents, it meant job losses, or, if they were fortunate, working from makeshift offices in their kitchens. For seniors, it meant uncertainty like they've never experienced.

Zoom. Microsoft Teams. Google Classroom. Slack.

2020.

Then came the killing of a black man at the hands of police in Minneapolis. The video went viral, another in a string of senseless deaths that is forcing us all reconsider our values and take a fresh look at the world.

What a year. 2020. What a year to finish a high school career. No parties, no proms. Drive-in graduation ceremonies. Six feet from one another. Donning masks. What a year for our young people to ponder their futures.

2020.

Still, as you read through this special section, you'll find plenty of hope and optimism among our grads. A desire to do good.

Here's Class President Silas Gates:

We weathered the storm and accomplished our goals, and I wouldn't want to share this moment with any other group of people.

Ivy Orator Henry Vanase sought a promise from his classmates:

That the moral sum of your actions, the long arc of your lives, will bend towards good. That you will give with generosity, fight for justice with passion... .

And Class Speaker Jillian Watt:

We have enough care to help others during times like this, while having enough strength to rebuild our generation. We are the Class of 2020, and we will most certainly never be forgotten.

That's for sure.

In this special section, you'll find seniors discussing their unique year and their future. Photos show students at work and at play, before circumstances limited their activities. NFA gathered their thoughts and images, which The Day has compiled in an effort to honor the graduates' hard work and perseverance. You can find lots more about the students at theday.com, where each of our southeastern Connecticut schools have a dedicated page.

Congratulations, Class of 2020.

What a year