2 minute read

2020: A Class Dismissed – Alyssa Finn

May 19, 2020

Alyssa Finn, a senior at Gray-New Gloucester High School, where her father is the principal, discusses how the coronavirus has impacted her last months of high school — and her after-school job.

A photo of an empty classroom with overlayed text reading 2020: A class dismissed.

Born in the weeks and months after 9/11, and graduated in the year of a crippling pandemic, the Class of 2020 lived through some of the most profound change ever witnessed. These young adults missed out on cornerstone experiences that ease the transition from being a child to being an adult. We captured the stories of a class prematurely dismissed.

This video is part of the 2020: A Class Dismissed series. The Maine Monitor is speaking to seniors from as many Maine high schools as possible to tell the story of Maine’s Class of 2020 and how these soon-to-be graduates are dealing with the unexpected developments that come with a pandemic and a disrupted senior year. This video of Alyssa Finn was recorded on May 10.

Alyssa was interviewed on May 10, 2020. On that day, these were the top news stories in Maine:

Maine’s new testing, tracing capabilities may allow for quicker, safer reopening (By Joe Lawlor of the Portland Press Herald)
Orrington pastor who sued Mills says coming together ‘a spiritual necessity’ at illegal service (By Judy Harrison of the Bangor Daily News)
Maine CDC reports 28 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths Sunday (By Rob Wolfe of the Press Herald)
Mother’s Day is different this year in Maine (By Edward D. Murphy of the Portland Press Herald)
University of Maine System distributing nearly $9M in federal student aid (By WABI)
Bates College adds voices to its quest to plan for COVID-19 (By Steve Collins of the Sun Journal)
Two Maine dairy farms dumping milk as demand drops, others holding steady (By Steve Sherlock of the Sun Journal)
Wildlife rescue efforts hampered by coronavirus (By Deborah McDermott of the York Weekly)
Mainers – and their therapists – experiencing new stress during pandemic (By Megan Gray of the Portland Press Herald)
Portland second-grade teacher and class adjust to ‘new normal’ of learning at home (By Rachel Ohm of the Portland Press Herald)
Volunteers deliver care packages to impacted employees of the Tyson meat plant (By WMTW)

To view more of the day’s headlines, browse our collection of the state’s best coronavirus coverage.

Check out our interactive data dashboard to explore trends in Maine’s COVID-19 cases by county, age, sex of the afflicted individuals and more in charts updated daily with data from Maine’s CDC.

Bailey Beltramo

Bailey Beltramo is an emerging photographer who grew up in Canterbury, New Hampshire. He graduated with a degree in communications from Norwich University in 2017, and continued his education through the Professional Intensive program at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. Both his photo and film work are pursued through a documentary approach and focus on capturing human experience in outdoor environments. His published work has spanned a range of settings from life on a dude ranch in Wyoming to the lessons of a non-profit, nature-based school in New Hampshire.