By the third day of delivering letters, the success rate had diminished.

One address did not exist. One was to a vacant lot and another was to an occupied apartment building.

“I’m the owner of this building and nobody by that name lives here,” said the man on the second floor.

Lewiston High School Principal Jake Langlais got back in the van and drove to the next address on his list.

“I am determined to be the one to deliver these letters to these kids,” he said.

All 330 of them.

Langlais wrote personalized letters to every senior in the LHS Class of 2020. He is delivering them — “with a whole lot of help.”

With the athletic director driving, and navigation and organization help from deans, assistant principals and transportation directors, Langlais was able to deliver 112 letters Tuesday and 125 on Wednesday.

By Thursday, the stack of letters had gotten smaller, but Langlais was on his own. Many of the remaining addresses were the last known on school record, but not necessarily where the student is living.

“This has been part of the journey,” Langlais said, mentioning challenges that included apartment buildings with multiple ways in and addresses that are vacant lots.

“No speak English,” one woman said after Langlais asked if one of his seniors lived in the apartment.

“I have learned a lot this week,” he said.

Langlais is determined to make “eye contact” and hand each senior their letter. If the senior has met the graduation criteria, they will also get a sign for their front yard. The sign reads “Home of a Lewiston High School Graduate – Class of 2020.”

If the student has a “shot at graduating,” but is missing a few bits of schoolwork, they will get a sign, an itemized list of what they need to do to graduate and a message that says “I believe in you.”

If a broken laptop power cord is preventing the student from making the grade he or she needs to graduate, well, Langlais’ got that covered too. He has a box full of extra cords to hand out.

Those students who will not meet the criteria to graduate will still receive a personalized letter.

Langlais said it will be early next week before he and his staff can find and meet face to face with each and every senior.

“I feel for the seniors that are living this,” Langlais said about their senior year being cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is no Top 10 luncheon, no senior prom, no senior barbecue. “I certainly don’t advocate for it, but there is no senior skip day either,” he said.

« Previous

Walton Elementary School principal goes the distance for his staff

Next »

Lewiston-Auburn arts organizations facing uncertain future