Our tribute to the unbreakable Class of 2020

When spring school closures threatened to — and ultimately did — derail the Class of 2020’s senior year, we decided this particular group of young men and women needed something to lift its spirits.

So we reached out to Wayne County Public Schools Public Information Officer Ken Derksen — hoping he could help us start a conversation with local high schools that would culminate in a once-in-a-lifetime special edition of our sister publication, “Eastbound & Downtown.”

Derksen delivered.

From there, with the help of guidance counselors, administrators and teachers, we came up with a list of students they felt reflected the very best of their particular group of graduates.

It was an honor to tell their stories.

The following is a digital version of the publication. Print editions are available at businesses across Wayne County — including the Goldsboro Pizza Inn, Abbey Carpet, downtown’s sneaker boutique, Rye, and other establishments.

Copies have also been delivered to Wayne Christian School, Goldsboro High School and Charles B. Aycock High School — and will be available in the coming days at Spring Creek High School, Goldsboro City Hall and various businesses and government buildings across the county.

But we understand that because of COVID-19, some people might not feel comfortable grabbing a magazine off a table in a store — and that some of our regular distribution points might have reservations about drawing large numbers of people given occupancy limits.

So if you or your business would like a copy or copies of the following product, send an email to kfine@newoldnorth.com or newoldnorth@gmail.com and we will make it happen with as little contact as possible.

We can drop it in your mailbox, leave it on your front porch or, for businesses, can deliver a box of magazines to your door.

And if you prefer to make this a purely digital experience from the comfort and security of your own home, we have you covered, too.

We hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as we enjoyed meeting the young men and women featured in them.

And even the two schools who chose not to single out a particular graduate are featured, too — with photographs of each graduate represented.

Our next edition publishes in December and we are excited to unveil the details in the coming weeks as it, too, will be unlike any publication Wayne County has ever seen.

So stay tuned and stay well.

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