The weeks following spring break and leading up to graduation in May are dotted with many milestones along the way for high school seniors, from prom to senior parties.
They also include a lot of “lasts,” such as the last time students will sit next to each other in class or the last time they will take the field or stage for their respective schools.
For Jackson Prep senior Maddie Puckett, one of the milestones she was most looking forward to was the last show choir competition she would compete in and their showcase, which she said is comparable to senior night for athletes.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, all of those events have been canceled or postponed and classes are being held online for the rest of the school year.
Seniors do not know if they will walk the halls with their classmates on another school day or whether it will be safe to have a graduation ceremony.
However, instead of letting all she is missing out on get her down, Puckett has decided to use her extra time on a special project designed to document those big, senior year milestones and celebrate as a class, from a safe social distance, of course.
“We went to spring break expecting to come back to school, so none of us knew we would miss a lot of our ‘lasts,’ like last prom,” she said. “And we were supposed to have a senior showcase for show choir, and some of us were supposed to have solos and we missed that.
“There were so many things that we missed, and people were starting to get down about it. So this was a way for people to kind of show off those things and college choices.”
The idea came to her by way of her mother, Leigh, who saw some photo series’ floating around social media of people posed outside their homes while quarantined. When her mother suggested the idea to Puckett, who has dabbled in photography for some time, she went for it.
First, she went to a few friends to pitch the idea and take some initial shots. Then, once she had their photos as examples, she shared the idea with the rest of her senior class, which consists of about 130 or so students.
Puckett suggested that those who wish to participate wear something representing what they are missing out on during this time, their plans after college or any other creative idea they could come up with.
In the days following, she has been setting up times to take photographs of the Prep seniors - arranging them by area or neighborhood - on their front porches in their chosen attire.
“We had stuff from a person who was celebrating their birthday, so they had balloons and things,” Puckett said. “Another girl had cut her hair while in quarantine, so she posed with her hair in one hand and scissors in the other. People have kind of spun it to fit what they want.”
So far, she has taken 25 of these photos over the past two weeks.
“I would stop by, and we would keep the distance between us and I’d snap a photo of them,” she said.
The project is ongoing, and Puckett plans to get photographs of each member of her senior class who is willing to participate. While snapping the photos takes about five minutes, much of her time has been spent coordinating with her classmates.
“It’s been a great time for self-reflection and thinking about what I can do better once this is all over with,” Puckett said of her time spent social distancing. “For now, it’s just mainly waiting for this to quit so things can go back to normal.”
This summer, Puckett plans to work as an assistant manager for summer camps at Jackson Prep. She also works as a lifeguard. As of now, both of her summer jobs will depend on when the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and governmental guidelines lift and allow for gatherings of people again.
Puckett, who is the daughter of Derek and Leigh Puckett, plans to attend the University of Mississippi.
For more photo visit northsidesun.com
