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2020: A Class Dismissed – Michael Delorge

April 23, 2020

Michael Delorge, a senior at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, a residential magnet school in the northern town of Limestone, adjusts to coronavirus-induced remote learning from his home in the opposite pole of the state: Biddeford.

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 with Michael Delorge was recorded on March 22.

Michael was interviewed on March 22, 2020. On that day, these were the top news stories in Maine:

89 cases of the coronavirus reported in Maine (By Christopher Burns of the Bangor Daily News)
Why Maine CDC will no longer report ‘presumptive positive’ COVID-19 cases (From the Penobscot Bay Pilot)
Behind the scenes as Maine Med prepared for a public health emergency (By Joe Lawlor of the Portland Press Herald)
Mainers take action to help seniors isolated amid the coronavirus crisis (By Kelley Bouchard of the Portland Press Herald)
Coronavirus closures make at-home food delivery crucial for Aroostook’s elderly (By Alexander MacDougall of the Bangor Daily News)
With restaurants shuttered, Maine fishermen and farmers pivot to sell directly to customers (By Nick Schroeder of the Bangor Daily News)
Falmouth church offers drive-thru confessions during coronavirus outbreak (From WGME)

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.