On Monday, August 22 of 2016, a group of over 200 freshmen walked into the halls of Miami Lakes Educational Center (MLEC) for the first time.
As these new freshmen shyly attempted to find their way through classes, they quickly started familiarizing with their new school — their home for the next four years and a new chapter in their lives.
With time, they began understanding the number “2020” in a new context: their graduation year, a date that each was to look forward to with eagerness. The color purple, by vox populi, later became their class color too, one that each would proudly wear at every pep rally — an event that, annually, they impatiently awaited during Spirit Week.
As dictated by the High School experience, this freshman class began shaping memories, forming friendships, and listening to the voice of teachers and counselors with every step they took. They soon transitioned from freshmen to sophomores to juniors — and on Monday, August 19 of 2019, this same group had a final transition: they became MLEC’s new generation of seniors.
That Monday, and as they walked around campus with crowns on their heads, they emitted nothing but pride. The date that each had been looking forward to since their freshman year was closer than ever. Graduation was only a few months away, and each anticipated anxiously the moment that they would walk up to a stage to collect their High School diplomas. The coming of the new year — 2020 — signified the climax of almost four years of hard work.
But, for this class of Jaguars, things didn’t go as expected.
In March of 2020, amid a global pandemic, the world went into a shutdown. All school events for the remainder of the school year were cancelled, and school continued online as we accommodated our lives to a new normal.
Class of 2020 was now not going to have the graduation they had long yearned for, and the question of whether or not they were going to have an official ceremony at all was in the air.
In May, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho would then announce: graduation was still on — given the world’s status though, the ceremony would be held in a rather unconventional way: televised and online.
June 11th, 2020.
“Class of 2020, I have gone back and forth and thought long and hard about what message I wanted to deliver this year. What could I possibly say that could bring sense to what has transpired these past few months?,” said Principal Yaset Fernandez as he addressed MLEC’s senior class via M-DCPS’s live streamed ceremony on Thursday, June 11.
“If you could remember one thing from this speech, I’d like for it to be this: It takes courage to be successful in life. You see Jaguars, courage is defined as having strength in the face of pain or grief,” he continued, highlighting how the last few months have been proof of the drive that class of 2020 has for courage — with everything that they have endured, they exemplify the word as a successful class with a 100% graduation rate.
Before Principal Fernandez’s speech, the long-awaited ceremony had begun with Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s welcoming words, which were followed by an introduction to 2020 Class President Natalia Reboredo. After Reboredo, SGA President Samuel Morales shared his remarks, which emphasized how the ceremony is the closing of a chapter in the graduates’ individual books.
The name of each Class of 2020 Jaguar was later called, and a photo of each graduate was shown on screen. After this, Principal Fernandez officially closed the ceremony with 46 long-awaited words.
“By the power vested in me, I hereby declare the Class of 2020 to be graduates of Miami Lakes Educational Center! Graduates, you may now turn your tassels! It is my honor to present, our newest alumni, the eighteenth graduating class of Miami Lakes Educational Center.”
Beyond all adversity, the Jaguar Class of 2020 is now officially an alumni class — and despite the circumstances, this graduation date was memorable.
Even when there wasn’t a traditional commencement, convocation, or overall standard graduation, today officially marked the ending and the beginning of a new chapter for 274 Jaguars.
After four years of hard work, sleepless nights, and academy classes, these graduates have left their print at MLEC. Now, it is time for them to continue their journey beyond MLEC’s school halls and leave their paw print in the world — and just as these jaguars’ past victories were our celebration, their future successes and constant resilience will be reasons to make MLEC proud of the Class of 2020 as well.
Today, the chapter that began on Monday, August 22 of 2016 has ended for each of these Jaguars.
A new one, a more exciting one as they now venture into the world, has just begun.
