Moorhead community steps up for graduating seniors from underprivileged backgrounds
MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) — Moorhead High School is assuring that every student graduating this year will have a chance to walk the stage with their peers.
“I think it’s giving dignity and worth to all of our students and giving them a chance to recognize their accomplishments and do that with pride and not feeling like maybe they weren’t worth it,” says Behavior Interventionist Megan Lundborg.
Underprivileged students who could not afford caps and gowns are getting help from the community.
“it shows them that there’s people in our community, in our school that cares about them and that these hidden barriers that oftentimes we might not recognize unless it’s brought up because of a relationship is removed,” says school Support Facilitator Lindsey Cossette.
The school’s Support Facilitator and Behavior Interventionist stepped up by reaching out to Josten’s to request more caps and gowns.
They only needed a few but will end up with nearly a dozen thanks to generous donors.
“We kind of go to resources and look to our community to support students. I think it’s something people don’t often think about. They did all this work to graduate and now they can’t afford to walk with all the other students that worked hard with them. I just reached out. I really just needed two and it kind of expanded and went from there,” said Lundborg.
Josten’s is sending eleven caps and gowns and the school hopes to shelve some for future graduates starting next year.
“For a lot of our students, their home lives tend to be non-traditional, maybe non-nuclear. Some of the things that would have a parent or a guardian help them navigate is oftentimes on them which can be less celebratory, really overwhelming, financially challenging. It’s nice to be able to do these things that take off some of the stress of the last semester of their senior year,” said Cossette.
Moorhead seniors will pick up their caps and gowns next month and the school plans to surprise the students.
