The months of April and May are usually a busy time for high school seniors. There’s parties, prom, dinners, dances, special days held in the outgoing class’ honor and even the occasional “senior skip day,” which is typically caused by a bad case of “senioritis.”
But the coronavirus pandemic has upended all of that for the Class of 2020.
In Greenwood, several mothers of Pillow Academy seniors have found a small way to show their big appreciation for the class, which is missing out on making important memories.
“This is the month that’s fun. Most of their school work is really behind them, and they are supposed to have parties and enjoy it, and they are not getting to do that,” said Shelia Smith, who is the mother of a Pillow Academy senior, Wade Smith.
The private school will remain closed at least through April 24 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is continuing to monitor the situation on a week-to-week basis. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced earlier this week that all public schools will remain closed for the remainder of the school year, but will continue with distance learning. Pillow students are also currently completing their school work at home through distance learning.
To celebrate the seniors who are missing out on some of their final weeks of school, Shelia’s sister-in-law, Shea Crowder, who is a second grade teacher at Pillow, approached her about a month ago with an idea — decorate the Smiths’ front door in honor of Wade with PA memorabilia, including his sports jerseys, yard signs and even a cardboard cutout of the senior.
“She is real creative and loves this kind of stuff,” said Shelia. “Wade, my senior, is her baby; he’s my firstborn, but she thinks he’s her firstborn, too. So this has really been hard for all of us.”
Crowder got the idea from Facebook and said “We have to do this for Wade.”
Shelia agreed, but she was hesitant about being the first to do something like this.
“I said OK, but we’d have to wait until after Easter,” she said.
On Monday, the two sisters-in-law began decorating.
“It was mostly Shea,” Shelia said.
She said it was funny when her son, Wade, saw the completed door.
“When he first walked up and saw it, he said, ‘Did I die or something?’ It was like a shrine,” Shelia said in between laughter. “But then, of course, he loved it.”
Shelia posted the finished product on Facebook and encouraged other mothers of seniors to do the same.
And they did.
“My mom saw it on Facebook, and she sent me a screenshot,” said Delina Jones, the mother of Pillow senior Sarah Jones.
Shelia sent Delina a message that said, “You’re next.”
Pillow Academy senior Sarah Jones holds up a pom-pom in front of the door to her home. The Jones’ front door was decorated by Sarah’s mother, Delina, who got the idea from Shelia Smith. Sarah said she likes the decorations and is happy people can drive by and see them.
“She inspired me to do it,” Delina said.
She said it’s a small way to make the seniors feel excited about something during a time that’s been disappointing for many members of the Class of 2020.
“It’s a really cute idea, and it’s fun for people riding by to see it,” she said.
Delina wanted her door to be festive and fun. She decorated the door of her home with green streamers, green and yellow pom-poms, Pillow signs, pictures, Sarah’s cheer uniform and other PA items.
“I loved it,” said Sarah, “because I love anything decorated. It’s very cute, and I love that people can come by and see it. It kind of shows what the seniors did at school, because they put our uniforms up.”
Sarah has been feeling emotional about missing out on so many of the senior activities she had been looking forward to this year.
“Well, I’ve cried a little bit,” she said.
There is one positive, however, for Sarah. “I do like being at home and not having to get up early.”
In a solemn tone, she added, “It’s still sad that I don’t get to be around my friends, and I may not get to see some of them again.”
The decorated doors have been a bright spot for the seniors and their parents, and they continued to pop up around Greenwood throughout the week.
For Janet Stephens, “the more things, the better” for her front door decorated in honor of her son, Shane Houston Stephens, who is seen in front of the door.
Another mother of a Pillow senior, Janet Stephens, decorated her door on Wednesday in honor of her son, Shane Houston Stephens. Shelia and her sister-in-law, Crowder, assisted.
“We just kind of all threw stuff out there, a lot of stuff,” Janet said. “I thought it was cute. Since (the seniors) haven’t got to do a whole lot of things with this pandemic, it’s a fun way to honor them.”
Janet was going to let the door be a surprise for Shane Houston, but she needed his help to get the ladder outside for decorating.
“I told him, ‘I’m going to decorate the door,’ and he said, ‘That’s kind of silly.’”
Janet asked if he didn’t want her to decorate the door, and he replied, “Oh, it’s OK, Mom.”
“Maybe the moms are doing it for us,” Janet said with a laugh. “It is fun. ... We might have started a new tradition in Greenwood.”
For her door, “the more things, the better.” There are mainly Pillow signs, but also shiny streamers and other items.
Janet said someone was driving down the road near her home and saw the silver and gold decorations reflecting in the sun.
“They drove over here to see what it was,” she said. “Everybody’s bored, so ‘let’s go look at something.’”
The door-decorating continued to spread.
Stephanie Avant decked out her door for her daughter, Kennedy Avant.
She said she thought the decorations would be a way to “to celebrate and honor” the seniors.
Kennedy Avant sits on the step to her decorated front door. Her mother, Stephanie Avant, decked out the door in Kennedy’s honor.
Stephanie decorated her door with Kennedy’s senior banner, some of her dance uniforms, pom-poms, signs and other Pillow Academy memorabilia.
“It’s a way to at least give them something,” Stephanie said. “It’s sad and disappointing, and it should be a time that’s joyful and celebrating.”
She said Kennedy smiled when she saw the finished door.
Since the school closed, her daughter has been “OK, disappointed but pushing through.”
“College is the light at the end of the tunnel,” Stephanie said.
She said she knows something good for the Class of 2020 will come out of this situation.
“The experience will help mold them into the people who God intended them to be,” she said.
Meanwhile, as the decorating continued, one mom said she was “bullied” into decking out her door.
“Shelia had done hers, and then the bullying started,” Julie Dunn said with a laugh. “So I went ahead and started. ... I did it totally out of guilt.”
She’s the mother of Pillow senior Jon Floyd Dunn.
“We just used things we had around the house, things left over from football season or posters or signs in the yard,” she said. “We did get to hang the big football senior banner, and that was fun.”
Jon Floyd Dunn stands by his front door, which was decorated by his mother, Julie Dunn.
Julie calls her door “below average.”
“I purposely did my door below average, so no one would feel like they couldn’t succeed,” she said.
Her son, Jon Floyd, was not too excited to see the door decorated in his honor. He had already teased some of his friends about their doors and the pictures their moms had posted on Facebook and was reluctant to let his mother take a picture of him.
“At first, he was like, ‘Really, Mom?’ He wasn’t too thrilled, but he’s so good about going along with things, so he went outside and let me take a picture,” said Julie.
Jon Floyd didn’t wear shoes for the photo. “That was kind of funny,” said his mother.
Julie has had two other children graduate from Pillow and knows what her youngest is missing out on.
“Pillow Academy is such a great school to celebrate seniors and their accomplishments, so it is sad,” she said. “Being my third child, and he doesn’t get those same rights of passage that my other two children were part of is sad.”
She said her son is staying positive. “He’s very optimistic, and he knows it’s going to be OK.”
Mel Harris decorated her door on Wednesday after seeing Shelia’s post on Facebook.
“I thought it was fabulous,” she said. “The seniors seem to like it, too.”
Her Pillow senior is Sam Harris.
Mel embraced the pandemic with her door decor. She has a poster featuring a large Lysol spray can and with “COVID 19” written above the can. She also has a Pillow Academy sign and a 2020 sign.
Sam Harris, dressed in camouflage and wearing a face mask, sits by his front door decorated by his mother, Mel Harris. Mel said her door is simple, but cute. It includes a poster featuring a Lysol can, a much sought after item during the coronavirus pandemic.
“My door is real simple, but it’s cute,” she said.
Sam is wearing camouflage and a face mask and is sitting under the Lysol poster in a picture Mel took.
Sam is wearing camo in the picture because his main way to pass the time since all of the social distancing restrictions started is turkey hunting.
“He’s a big hunter, so turkey hunting has saved him,” said Mel.
It’s been a tough time for the Pillow Class of 2020, Mel said.
“They are a real close class, and not getting to finish their year, it’s been very disappointing.”
Sam Harris also received a “Senior Stangs Stand Strong!” yard sign earlier this week. His mother, Mel, said it was a complete surprise.
She said the door-decorating ties in nicely with this particular group of seniors. “This class has always been big decorating something ... since elementary school.”
To add to the decorations, earlier this week, Pillow Academy juniors went to every senior’s home and gave each a yard sign that says: “Senior Stangs Stand Strong! Pillow Academy Class of 2020.”
“It was a complete surprise,” said Mel when a junior brought a sign to her home.
Janet said when the sign arrived at her house, “I thought it was a nice gesture by the school to give them recognition.”
The school purchased the signs to show support for the seniors, and the junior class volunteered to distribute the signs.
“We certainly feel for all the students during this interruption of normal school activities, but we especially feel for our seniors,” said Pillow Headmaster Rodney Brown.
He said Pillow wanted to do something to show the seniors that the school and its staff are thinking about them.
“The school is just trying to do something for the seniors to let them know we appreciate them and to stay connected with them in some little way,” he said.
Sarah Jones stands by her yard sign, which was given to her by a Pillow Academy junior on Wednesday.
Brown said he knows that the seniors are missing some activities that were originally scheduled in April, such as the prom, which was planned for this week.
“We know that there are some events they are missing and desperately want to be able to participate in, and we’ve not canceled anything; we’ve postpone some,” he said. “We’ll only cancel if the rules about gatherings and social distancing keep us from hosting events. ... There are some things outside of our control, but we will do our best to make those things happen.”
• Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7235 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
