COVID-19 has been an annoyance to the  senior year Class of 2021.

  First, the virus affected the Class of 2020’s second half of senior year, cancelling both senior prom and senior trip and having the graduation ceremony with masks and social distancing.

  The wrath of the coronavirus has left the Class of 2021 in despair. The first semester of the senior year was all virtual with some hybrid days in between. The virus is still taking over our country but at a lesser rage than last spring.

  As for senior year activities? There is still some hope.

  Eastern’s Senior Prom of 2021 is still on.

  Senior class president Adam Safier says that most senior activities appear to be staying on schedule. “As of now the vast majority of activities a normal senior class has are still planned in the spring. With the knowledge likely all may not be able to happen we have many other activities and surprises being planned, but again everything as of now is still planned to happen,” Safier said.

  While the activities are still on, it is hard to say if they will still happen and time will tell. “Prom is in a few months and we don’t know what the pandemic will look like then. If the pandemic is similar to now, restrictions would likely follow,” Safier said.

  The location of the prom is still to be determined. However, it is still supposed to be held on May 14th of thi year.

 Safier says that there will be safety precautions to keep everyone safe at the senior prom but that it will still remain a good time for all who attend. “Prom is actively being planned to make sure it is the best possible experience,” Safier said.

  The senior trip, on the other hand, was a little more complicated.

  A trip to Disney World would require traveling via airplane to Florida, a state which has shown to be lax on COVID-19 protocols.

  “Seniors had to sign up for the trip months ago in the fall and we are scheduled to go in early June,” Senior class advisor Mr. David Lindenhofen said.

  The senior trip had to be pushed back from its usual month of April to June.

  Sadly, it was announced on February 24th that the senior class trip would be cancelled for 2021.

  A notice sent to seniors and their parents from the school’s superintendent officially states the cancellation of the annual trip citing that, “We have the least control over events hosted outside the campus. Third parties determine the parameters.”

  Seniors commented on an Instagram post detailing the cancellation and many were not happy. One user posted, “This is some absolute bs.”

  Another user posted, “Anyone want to start taking the odds school cancels prom and tries to screw us out of graduation?”

  It is clear seniors are frustrated. While there is still hope for a senior prom, that hope dwindles with the loss of the senior trip.

But wait, there is a light in the darkness. With the impending cancellation of the trip to Disney, Eastern has now punched their tickets to s trip to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania on May 1st. The price is sixty seven dollars for an amusement park ticket and bus ride and families only have a limited time to sign up on Family ID.