With just a couple of AP classes to complete before she could officially become a Pope High School graduate, senior Raegan Keane-Dawes wasn’t sure at first whether she’d continue on with her classes or take the grade she had when campuses closed on March 13.
She chose to pursue the former, and was glad she did.
“My grades went up,” said Keane-Dawes, who was taking statistics and environmental science classes.
As a senior, she was only on the Pope campus for a couple hours a day, having taken dual enrollment courses at Chattahoochee Tech for the last two years.
But she still missed the student camaraderie, especially with cancelled senior class events leading up to what would have been graduation this week.
“It’s been weird, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” she said.
“It’s just the thought that we’re all leaving, and leaving like this.”
She said she and her classmates stay in touch, but “the hardest part” is not being able to enjoy the traditional interactions that come with being a senior.
What was already a surreal experience of not seeing her friends and taking part in high school rituals took an encouraging turn on May 13, when she turned 18.
There was a family event planned, but Keane-Dawes also got to enjoy friends showing up by car for a surprise birthday drive-up in her neighborhood.
During her days at Pope, Keane-Dawes took part in the Interact Club and the French Club, and she participated in club volleyball and soccer.
She’s taking her enthusiasm for sports to Mercer University, where she plans to major in sports marketing and analytics, and is eyeing the possibility of becoming a sports agent.
Keane-Dawes said distance-learning was challenging, and not just because of the subject matter.
“It was tough, but it was manageable,” she said. “But I don’t think I learned as much.”
As she leaves Pope, Keane-Dawes said she’s especially grateful for her teachers, many of whom she finally got to see this week at the school’s graduation drive-through, waving and shouting encouragement.
“I never had a bad teacher experience with any of them,” she said.
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There was no drive through graduation at Pope. They did nothing like the other schools in our area. I’m sure this fine young lady picked up her diploma, by herself, from the cafeteria, just like my daughter did. Mask on, no fanfare whatsoever. Some teachers were there, but there was nothing graduation- like about it. Pope missed the mark in a big way compared to Walton, Lassiter, etc.