FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 25, 2020 • KIDS & EDUCATION • THE QUEENS COURIER 25
kids & education
LaGuardia Community College celebrates 2020 commencement
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Graduates of LaGuardia
Community College in Long
Island City traditionally face
more challenges and hardships
than your average student, but
this year the coronavirus outbreak
Students, parents should expect the unexpected when school begins this fall
BY JOE PANTORNO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e coronavirus pandemic
robbed students on all levels in
the fi nal months of their 2019-
20 school year and parents were
forced to educate and keep their
children challenged and entertained
through quarantines and
isolation.
While New York continues to
inch forward in its reopening
plans, the area remains a hotbed
for COVID-19 in the United
States, which will continue to
limit summer plans for families,
at least initially.
By the time the 2020-21 school
year rolls around in September,
it will be almost six months
since students were in the classroom
— and the potential looming
second wave of the virus
could very well extend that number
when the weather cools. It
leaves the upcoming school year
open-ended as parents and students
don’t know what to expect,
and rightfully so.
Mayor Bill de Blasio echoed
those sentiments last week, stating
that schools “need to be able
to move on a continuum.”
“It could be every single student
back in school, it could be
no students back in school,” de
Blasio said. “We have to be ready
for any eventuality.”
Th at means that parents and
students should be prepared to
be fl exible if needed, though
schools must take the proper
parameters to facilitate all styles
of learning.
Meanwhile, Schools
Chancellor Richard Carranza
attempted to make the fi rst steps
of preparation by introducing
his “Fall Framework,” though it
consisted of hypotheticals rather
than concrete measures.
Considering a vaccine is still
some time away from being
found, produced and distributed,
the most realistic approach
school-goers and their supporters
should prepare for is what
Carranza described as “Blended
Learning” — students learning
from home online and in the
classroom.
Such a combination would
allow schools to get a rotating
fraction of students in the building
while maintaining proper
health protocols and social distancing.
Chances of students being
aff orded extra-curricular activities
or aft er-school programs
would still likely be slim as a
byproduct of those health and
safety measures.
For parents, that means
an inconsistent schedule for
at-home care could be in the
cards for the school year until
a vaccine is readily available.
Parents and guardians also may
be tasked with fi nding alternative
ways to get their kids to school
while providing more meals
should they return to facilities.
At higher levels of education,
local colleges will also be tasked
with keeping their students safe
while providing some semblance
of normal campus life.
While there are few ideas
known on how local colleges
and universities can attain such a
goal, the University of Kentucky
gave a sneak peek at what many
major institutions might do in
the age of coronavirus.
As reported by Th e New York
Times, students will be subject to
fever tests before entering buildings;
footpaths will be labeled
as one-direction walkways; and
face masks will be required in
classrooms and other public
spaces such as dining halls.
Photo via Getty Images
created even more hurdles
for the 3,253 members of its
graduating class this year.
Class speaker Felipe Maysonet,
36, earned his associate of arts
in communications studies with
a concentration on public relations
and alluded to the pandemic
in his remarks to fellow
graduates during a viral commencement
last week.
“Hold your head up high for
we have not been defeated,”
Maysonet said. “I mean, come
on, between classes, work and
life, these few months and this
semester, was no walk in the
park. I mean literally, we can’t
even walk in the park. Th anks,
COVID-19.”
In his speech, Maysonet
described growing up in New
York City as “poor, gay and
Latino,” while also appreciating
its diversity and beauty. Raised
by a single mother, his family
experienced homelessness and
lived in shelters before moving
into a Brooklyn apartment.
When he was 16, his mother,
whom Maysonet describes as
“indomitable, nurturing and the
person who sparked my passion
for activism,” died from AIDS.
Th is led to several years of
“couch-surfi ng” with friends and
family while trying to get his life
on track. Despite trying to navigate
through the hardships and
disparities, Maysonet has given
his time and heart in HIV/AIDS
activism. In 2011, he enrolled
at LaGuardia but left soon aft er
to care for his ailing father, with
whom he had reconnected with.
Later that year, his father died
due to complications from diabetes.
Not ready to return to
college, Maysonet found work
as a video production assistant
and nightclub promoter and volunteered
for LGBTQIA+ rights,
HIV/AIDS awareness, disability
rights and social justice reform.
Maysonet returned to LaGuardia
in 2018 and got involved in college
activities that enabled him
to shine a light on social issues,
including the annual Black Lives
Matter Summit.
For his dedication and scholarly
achievement, he received
several awards and scholarships
for high-achieving students
including being named
LaGuardia’s 2020 ASAP Scholar
Valedictorian, and induction
into the Delta Alpha Pi
International Honor Society.
Maysonet has received a scholarship
to complete his bachelor’s
at NYU, where he’ll major
in fi lm and communications. His
long-term goal is to start a nonprofi
t foundation, “Th e House of
Maysonet,” to give scholarship
and other support to marginalized
young people.
“I want to see all people represented
fairly and equally, so that
inclusion is no longer an issue,”
Maysonet said.
Antonio Alarcón Immigrant
rights activist Antonio Alarcón
gave the keynote address. Th e
2015 LaGuardia graduate was
a co-plaintiff in the landmark
DACA case at the Supreme
Court, which was upheld on
June 18. “If we all speak up and
tell our stories, then we cannot
be ignored,” Alarcón said.
“So, I’m asking you to use your
voice. Use the education you
gained at LaGuardia to change
minds, open hearts and eliminate
violence and prejudice
against immigrants, and other
injustices in the world.”
Alarcón’s words resonated
with the 3,253 members of
LaGuardia’s Class of 2020 which
is made up of 45 percent who
self-identify as Hispanic; 22
percent as Asian; 16 percent as
Black; and 11 percent as white.
LaGuardia Community College
Interim President Dr. Paul
Arcario.
“Not only is Antonio Alarcón
a LaGuardia graduate and an
immigrant rights activist, but he
bravery shares his story of being
a young child coming to the U.S.
as an undocumented immigrant.
With so many of our students
from immigrant families, his
story is their story,” LaGuardia
Community College Interim
President Paul Arcario said. “As
we’re facing a future impacted
by a global pandemic and social
unrest over the killings of Black
fathers, daughters and more at
the hands of police, he encouraged
our graduates to use the
knowledge and skills they’ve
accumulated in their lives, and
at LaGuardia, to adapt and shape
our future.”
LaGuardia Community College
Interim President Dr. Paul Arcario.
Photos courtesy of LaGuardia Community College
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