3 minute read

2020: A Class Dismissed – Rebecca Packard

May 13, 2020

Rebecca Packard, a senior at Freeport High School and resident of Durham, discusses how the coronavirus has impacted her last months of high school.

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 Rebecca Packard was recorded on April 29.

Rebecca was interviewed on April 29, 2020. On that day, these were the top news stories in Maine:

CDC reports another death and 16 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 (By Christopher Burns of the Bangor Daily News)
2 bankrupt Maine hospitals warn they could close in June if they don’t receive stimulus funds (By Charles Eichacker of the Bangor Daily News)
Mills says virus reopening plan will rely on case data, but specifics are unclear (By Eric Russell of the Portland Press Herald)
Medical experts say more testing, contact tracing needed as Maine begins to reopen (From the Portland Press Herald)
Judge rules in favor of Maine tribe in blocking stimulus funds for tribal corporations (By Caitlin Andrews of the Bangor Daily News)
Officials cancel 2020 Beach to Beacon 10K road race (By Mike Lowe of the Portland Press Herald)
Rockland’s Maine Lobster Festival cancels 2020 event (By Stephen Betts of the Camden Herald)
North Atlantic Blues Festival canceled amid pandemic (From the Boothbay Register)
Here’s a list of the Maine parades, festivals and concerts that have been scrapped for 2020 (From Emily Burnham of the Bangor Daily News)
Feds must step up to protect Maine lobster fishery, lawmakers say (From the Bangor Daily News)
Maine schools expect almost $44 million in federal aid to offset costs of pandemic (By Rachel Ohm of the Portland Press Herald)
How did a small coastal airport in Owls Head get an $18 million federal bailout? (By Peter McGuire of the Portland Press Herald)
Law enforcement agencies say some beachgoers are violating stay-at-home order (By Taylor Cairns of WGME)
Some Republicans are calling Janet Mills a dictator (By Steve Collins of the Sun Journal)
Auburn mayor asks Gov. Mills to lift stay-at-home order (By Andrew Rice of the Sun Journal)

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.