New London public works employee Don York power washes the Colombo statue in Columbus Square in the city Monday, June 8, 2020. The statue was defaced with red paint on Saturday during a youth-led Black Lives Matter march. One of the demands read during the rally Saturday included the removal of the statue. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Robert E. Fitch high school senior Krista Madore poses for a photo at a park near her home Wednesday, May 27, 2020. Madore plans to attend Eastern Connecticut State University and study social work. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Montville High School senior Layla Wu holds some of her artwork at her parent´s home on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. A first-generation Chinese student her other hobbies include planes, she has been taking flying lessons at Groton-New London Airport since her junior year and worked as a dental assistant in New York City to pay for them. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

Siblings Kamber and Darin Hamou pose for a portrait at their home in Lyme on Wednesday, June 3, 2020. They are Syrian refugees who moved here in 2016 not knowing English and will both continue their education in college next year. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

U.S. Air Force Second Lieutenant Mark Wojcik, left, is handed a military sword from his father Former Navy Lieutenant Commander Dean Wojcik during a commissioning ceremony at the SUBVETS WWII Memorial in Groton on Sunday, June 7, 2020. Mark graduated from the Air Force Academy earlier this spring and starts flight training this week, due to COVID-19 the family was unable to attend his graduation and planned the event. Mark was also handed down a military sword that has been in his family since the 1940´s and passed on between four generations. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

Nanayaa Ali, center, hands off the megaphone to a fellow organizer while leading the Black Lives Matter march in Groton on Sunday, June 7, 2020. . (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

Participants walk past “Black Lives MatterÓ written along Route 1 during a Black Lives Matter march in Groton on Sunday, June 7, 2020. A crowd of about a thousand people marched from Poquonnock Plains Park to the Groton Municipal building and back during the youth-organized protest in response to the recent murder of George Floyd and other acts of racism against people of color. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

Will Kerr, of Groton, holds up his bike with a sign during a Black Lives Matter march in Groton on Sunday, June 7, 2020. A crowd of about a thousand people marched from Poquonnock Plains Park to the Groton Municipal building and back during the youth-organized protest in response to the recent murder of George Floyd and other acts of racism against people of color. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

A crowd rallies in response to a speaker during a Black Lives Matter march in Groton on Sunday, June 7, 2020. A crowd of about a thousand people marched from Poquonnock Plains Park to the Groton Municipal building and back during the youth-organized protest in response to the recent murder of George Floyd and other acts of racism against people of color. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

Marcy Cashman, a Surgical PA, stops to pet Sunshine, a collie mix, held by Jean Jerbert, not pictured, during a therapy dog parade for Lawrence + Memorial Hospital staff and patients on Monday, June 8, 2020. Jamie Nadeau, manager of volunteer services, said the hospital has about 13 “teamsÓ of pets and owners who used to visit on a regular basis and that seven participated in the parade. “I just wanted to put something together to deliver smiles and comfort during COVID-19Ó she said of planning the event. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

New London high school senior Hidelbrondo German-Lopez poses with his family for Elvis Diaz of First Light Studio during the first of three graduation celebrations for the Class of 2020 on the stage at New London high school Monday, June 8, 2020. Monday through Wednesday this week the seniors each took their turn walking across the stage at the high school to receive their diploma cover and be recorded on video as well as have photos taken with their families. Part two will be June 22nd at Ocean Beach Park for a Drive In ceremony and part three will be a drive-thru ceremony at the high school campus. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Cora Metz, left, and Marissa Chicote, both of Norwich, hold the banner as several hundred people gather on Chelsea Parade in Norwich for a Black Lives Matter rally Sunday, June 7, 2020. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Heather Parsons and her dog Dixie, of Niantic, paddle board along the Crescent Beach area of Niantic on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

A boater and two kayakers on the Mystic River float by the T/V Liberator, a training vessel for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, in the ship lift at the Mystic Seaport Museum´s Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard Tuesday, June 9, 2020. T/V Liberator has been with the USMMA since 2007, having previous served as a training vessel for the U.S. Naval Academy. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Cecelia Middleton, 8, reaches out to give her teacher Janella Carroll, not pictured, a gift bag as teachers and staff at Mohegan Elementary in Uncasville greet their students in a “reverse paradeÓ to celebrate the end of the school year Thursday, June 11, 2020. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Norwich city firefighter William Krukoff bails out of a window in a training prop with trainer Ryan Brainerd observing as city fire crews train on new Sterling Escape Systems bailout equipment Thursday, June 11, 2020 at the city´s Emergency Management Facility. The new equipment, which allows a firefighter to escape an upper floor window, was purchased for all city firefighters with a $21,000 grant from the Lt. Joseph P. DeBernardo Foundation. The grant covered bailout kits and training for all 53 city firefighters. Firefighter Chris Paige, who led the effort to get the grant, said of the kits, “these give us a little more confidence and sense of safety,Ó City firefighters also built the training prop inside the emergency management facility. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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A woman riding a stand up pedal board ducks to get under the Mystic River Bascule Bridge Tuesday, June 9, 2020. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Teacher Heather Silera and graduate Rodolfo Solis walk back from the restrooms during a drive-in graduation ceremony for Norwich Free Academy on Thursday, June 11, 2020 at Dodd Stadium. After COVID-19 canceled original graduation plans the school screened the pre-recorded ceremony for graduates and they were invited to participate in a car parade. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

Graduates and invited guests watch from their cars during a drive-in graduation ceremony for Norwich Free Academy on Thursday, June 11, 2020 at Dodd Stadium. After COVID-19 canceled original graduation plans the school screened the pre-recorded ceremony for graduates and they were invited to participate in a car parade. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

Jacob Goes, center, West Side Middle School Vice Pirncipal Jemal Davis, left, and Principal Jeff Kotecki, right, pose while his mother, Dawne (cq) Swietek, right, takes a picture Thursday, June 11, 2020 at their home in Groton. Kotecki, Goes and teachers drove to the 8th grade students homes Thursday delivering their promotion packages and a yard sign. (Dana Jensen/The Day)
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Graduate Austin Richards sits out the window of a car as he participates in a parade leaving the drive-in graduation ceremony for Norwich Free Academy on Thursday, June 11, 2020 at Dodd Stadium. After COVID-19 canceled original graduation plans the school screened the pre-recorded ceremony for graduates and they were invited to participate in a car parade. (Sarah Gordon / The Day)

Fidan Mahmoud blows kisses to Three Rivers Middle College magnet high school staff in attendance at the school´s drive-through commencement exercises in the parking lot at the LEARN regional education service center in Old Lyme Friday, June 12, 2020. Mahmoud and her family came to the region as refugees from the Kurdish region of Syria. Her brother Hanif, right, holds the Kurdish flag in the background. The school is housed at Three Rivers Community College, which is closed requiring the ceremony be held elsewhere. Graduates arrived one at a time, roughly every ten-minutes and walked onto stage to be photographed with their diploma. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Lyme/Old Lyme High School principal Jim Wygonik helps Darin Hamou with her tassel during drive through commencement exercises Friday, June 12, 2020. The graduates arrived one at a time, with up to two cars of family, to stop at the school entrance and receive their diploma from principal Jim Wygonik before switching their tassel and stepping down to take photos with their family under an arch of blue and white balloons. School staff lined the driveway on the way out to cheer on the graduates. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Assistant principal Jeanne Manfredi, left, directs senior Aidan Greene as he arrives for drive through commencement exercises at Lyme/Old Lyme High School Friday, June 12, 2020. The graduates arrived one at a time, with up to two cars of family, to stop at the school entrance and receive their diploma from principal Jim Wygonik before switching their tassel and stepping down to take photos with their family under an arch of blue and white balloons. School staff lined the driveway on the way out to cheer on the graduates. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Graduate Elyce Nadeau walks towards the stage to receive her diploma with her family cheering from the pickup truck in the background during the Marine Science Magnet High School drive-in style graduation ceremony Friday, June 12, 2020, in Groton. (Dana Jensen/The Day)
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Three Rivers Middle College magnet high school graduate Ashlie Mozeika grimaces after her father Ed Mozeika, right, knocker her mortar board off her head as the posed for a photo after receiving her diploma in a drive-through commencement in the parking lot at the LEARN regional education service center in Old Lyme Friday, June 12, 2020. The school is housed at Three Rivers Community College, which is closed requiring the ceremony be held elsewhere. Graduates arrived one at a time, roughly every ten-minutes and walked onto stage to be photographed with their diploma. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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The family of graduate Cody Christenson cheer waving cutouts of his face and capture the moment on a cell phone while he walks to the stage to receive his diploma during the Marine Science Magnet High School drive-in style graduation ceremony Friday, June 12, 2020, in Groton. (Dana Jensen/The Day)
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Norwich Free Academy senior Teala Avery on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, at her Norwich home. She plans to attend Spelman College in Atlanta. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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From front to back, Tomasin Williams, Annita Harris and Lauren Gee affix names of black men and women killed by police to Gee's hearse Saturday, June 13, 2020, before leading a march of several hundred Black Lives Matter demonstrators from Chelsea Parade to City Hall and back in Norwich during the Enough is Enough event that included a program of speakers. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Meridoche Gustave leads the call and response with the group as several hundred Black Lives Matter marchers make their way from Chelsea Parade to City Hall and back in Norwich Saturday, June 13, 2020. The event, entitled Enough is Enough, began with a speaking program at the parade and marched to city hall and back to wrap up at the parade with more speakers. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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Wilfredo Dolores reacts as his name is announced while his mother, Sandra Santana, captures it with a video on his cellphone while watching the Three Rivers Community graduation ceremony Saturday, June 13, 2020, at their home in New London. Dolores' aunt and uncle Nery Santana and Ricardo Francisco and grandfather Miguel Santana also watched the ceremony. (Dana Jensen/The Day)
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Wilfredo Dolores hugs his aunt, Nery Santana, with his mother, Sandra Santana, second from right, uncle, Ricardo Francisco, left, and grandfather, Miguel Santana, right, looking on at the after watching his Three Rivers Community graduation ceremony Saturday, June 13, 2020, at home in New London. (Dana Jensen/The Day)
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