Sign of celebration: Saluting the Class of 2020 in Hudson, Que.

Even though COVID-19 safety measures prevent large gatherings, a Hudson, Que., parent has found a meaningful way to honour the graduating class at Westwood High School.

Melanie Brault Goettisheim said when her son’s graduation ceremony was postponed due to coronavirus concerns,  she was crushed.

She said her son Nicolas is autistic, and although he is high-functioning, getting through the two years he studied at Westwood wasn’t easy.

She felt helpless but wanted to do something to commemorate her 17-year-old and his graduating class.

“It’s a disappointment for my son, for all the kids. It’s just horrible, it’s just a bad situation,” she said.

Taking inspiration from posts she’d seen online, Brault Goettisheim created a sign that congratulates the Westwood graduating class of 2020 and has invited students to add their names to it.

“And so the adventure begins,” the sign reads. “Congratulations.”

Brault Goettisheim hopes all of Nicolas’ classmates visit her front lawn to leave their names on the sign. She then plans on donating it to the school, and hopes they put it somewhere to remember the class that couldn’t have a graduation ceremony.

“Kids are missing out on something. We are doing the best we can.”

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“If signing a sign can make a kid smile, so be it we will take what we can,” she said.

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For Nicolas, the graduation ceremony would have been bittersweet. He had trouble adjusting socially when he transferred to Westwood in 2018 from his previous school in Ontario.  He had been looking forward to the graduation ceremony, despite the difficulties he had making friends.

So far almost 20 people have left signatures on his mother’s sign, and he said it has been great to see familiar faces again.

‘When they come over to sign it, they pop out to say ‘hi’. It’s been really good for my anxiety from being stuck at home all the time,” he said.

Samantha Desbiens wore her sister’s graduation hat for her signing moment.

“It was a happy moment for me and my mom, because it was a chance to celebrate something we didn’t get to. So coming down, taking a picture, it felt like a mini graduation,” she said.

The kids know it’s a small gesture but they say its meaningful.

They all hope to see the sign posted at the school one day. What would make it even sweeter — if they could have a graduation ceremony at the same time.