Not all 2021 graduates are students

We’ve heard the term graduation used to refer to people other than those who are receiving a diploma from a school.

This week, students at Douglas and ASPIRE high schools matriculate, but there’s another Class of 2021, consisting of the nearly two-score Douglas County School District employees who are retiring.

We’ve already reported the “graduations” of Douglas High football coach Ernie Monfilletto and music director Tammie Owens.

High school registrar Anita Ovard is retiring effective June 24 after 27 years at the school. Graphic arts teacher Rita Borselli, a Whittell High School graduate herself, is retiring after 25 years at the high school, having guided the creative minds of at least 1,000 Tigers.

Wrestling coach Mark Lilly, who teaches social studies and English, is tagging out after 27 years of teaching.

That’s just a small percentage of all the folks who are riding off into the sunset this year.

School secretary Sherree Apacotos has been greeting Meneley Elementary School students for a third of a century, which includes some of those early students’ children.

Mary Lahlum, 2013 Classified Employee of the Year, is retiring as a health aide at Gardnerville Elementary School, a position she’s held for pretty much the entire 21^stcentury.

The Class of 2021 is the first to spend their entire senior year in the pall of the coronavirus outbreak.

It wasn’t just about the students over this last year. Teachers, classified employees and administrators have also been tested by the outbreak.

This has not been an easy year for anyone, and the schools have faced daily challenges.

Today is the last day of school for all Carson Valley students. We hope that the summer break offers them a respite after the pressures of going to school while navigating the challenges we all shared over the last nine months.

To retirees and graduates, we say good luck and bon voyage. We’re rooting for you no matter what your future path may be.