Dear Zephyr community,

I want to take a moment to thank everyone in our community for working with us this spring as we have made decisions to provide safe, ongoing instruction and support to our students and families in a truly uncertain and rapidly changing environment.

This year has been like no other in my 31 years of service to this school and community, and I certainly would never have imagined we would have been preparing for virtual end-of-the-year activities when school began in September.

As a school and a community, we have come together to support each other. Our food service department has provided over 4,500 meals per week to our most vulnerable children. Through partnerships we have developed with our community, such as Communities That Care, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative, Snack Pack Pals, Whitehall Rotary Club and community member volunteers, we have served over 400 families, providing them with meals and much-needed supplies. These initiatives will continue through the summer months.

Our teachers, paraprofessionals, support staff and administration have worked diligently to transition to online instruction, providing virtual class meetings, video chats and assignments through online learning platforms. Counseling, nursing and mental health services have continued to be provided through virtual calls and telemedicine to support our students and families during this difficult time.

I am overwhelmed with the agile transition to online learning our organization has made in such a short time period. We continue to build on our success and learn from our mistakes to make improvements and enhance the educational process for our students. We miss them all!

A special thanks to our parents, who have been patient and have supported us through this transition. You continually support your children, nurture them, calm their fears and monitor their learning while many of you are working from home and coping with many other issues related to the pandemic. This is not an easy task, and we recognize and appreciate all the understanding and support needed to make each and every student successful.

To the Whitehall-Coplay community, thank you for your support of our school, staff, students and families. It truly takes a village, and during this difficult time, your acts of kindness, selflessness and compassion have not gone unnoticed. Our community has always risen to the occasion to help others in need, attend celebrations, cheer on your Zephyr teams, be entertained by our theater productions and concerts, support school fundraisers and events, volunteer to help with school functions and so much more. I cannot wait to welcome all of you back to fill our stadiums, auditoriums and gymnasiums in support of our students. During this unprecedented time, so many of you have embodied the true meaning of “Zephyr tough.”

To our graduating seniors, it is with the deepest regret and the most sincere recognition that this year’s graduation ceremony is not what any of us would have hoped for. Our virtual ceremony will take place June 4. As we have always planned, if Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf lifts restrictions, we will have a physical event during the summer months. That being said, our administrative team, with input from our senior class members, has tried to make this graduation as memorable as possible for all of you. We hope you enjoy it!

Look forward to celebrating graduation like no other class at Whitehall High School. Your class will most certainly be remembered.

I wish you all the best!

Dr. Lorie Hackett

Whitehall-Coplay School District superintendent