By Matt Molinari
From sporting events to concerts to weddings, this past March we watched organizers pull the plug on large group gatherings of all kinds. One group that has experienced the challenges of the social distancing is the graduating high school senior class of 2020. This pivotal moment is a huge rite of passage and a giant step of faith that for most, dictates the trajectory of their future careers and life goals. Under normal circumstances, this step is a scary one. But in 2020, the transition has been abrupt, confusing and hopeless, without any sort of closure to the last four years of hard work and achievement.
I had a chance to sit down (via ZOOM) with Dom and Jen Casey, who stepped up in a big way to inspire hope for these high school seniors and ended up causing a ripple effect of positive impact in the entire community. The Caseys have four girls, ages 14-20, and have been an active part of the St. Matthew family for the last 8 years in children/youth ministry and church governing board.
Their graduating high school senior, Camryn, who is finishing her four years at Roseville High School, along with 400+ of her peers, were faced with major roadblocks from all angles to hold a graduation ceremony amidst COVID-19 “shelter in place” orders. When administration put their foot down for any sort of creative parent-organized alternative, that’s when a group of moms and dads led by Jen stepped up and began asking the tough questions.
She spent hours on the phone and sending emails to community leaders, discussing what was allowable for this type of recognition event and trying to secure a potential location. They looked to other schools to find what was working well and how they were able to safely host “cap and gown” parades.
Eventually the perfect location emerged: the Westfield Galleria Mall which coincidently, was completely shut down at the time due to COVID-19. Their general manager was fully on board and ready to do whatever it took to host an event on the property. On Thursday, May 7th hundreds of parents and teachers lined the outer driveway loop of the mall with posters and signs of celebration for 470 bright/teary eyed students. Jen and her team included a DJ, flyover drone photography, a huge drive through balloon arch and the letters RHS 2020 painted on the roof. It was a day filled with hope for their future in an uncertain time.
MATT: Tell me how you got involved involved?
JEN: I saw this hurting community of kids and it was worse that I expected. The mental illness is really high in these things, even with their parents, and the loss they have very real, almost indescribable.
Overnight, everything was stripped away - they thought they were going for an extended spring break. But they never had a chance to say goodbye to teachers or their friends. Why can we have 100 people at the golf course but my kid can’t pick up their cap and gown? Why can green acres have a full store and a parking lot attendant direction traffic but we can’t have a simple drive by celebration for our kids?
When I realized that some handmade posters and some love & recognition would go a long way to support them in this tough emotional time I said “That’s easy, I can do this!” We began the hours of phone calls and sending emails to the government officials at the city, school district and county level to give the ok on an event that respects the rules but honors the kids.
MATT: How did you bring hope to a hopeless situation?
DOM: You had thousands of frustrated parents and kids throughout Roseville who didn’t have a voice. In my leadership role in the city we were able to help give them a platform to share their concerns and in a lot of ways we gave them hope by lending an ear and giving them a voice. I’m a firm believer that leaders to do the right thing, they don’t always do things right. I worked to push within the rules to get some movement to give a voice to thousands of residents who didn’t have it. I could have sat back to say those are the rules and we follow them, or work to be an advocate for the kids.
Giving them hope and confidence and faith that those entrusted to lead do want to help them and care about them. I found myself in a position to help and compelled to do that.
So much of my view of leadership goes back to my faith: giving grace and understanding, to come alongside people and truly show that you care. God calls and qualifies people to lead in roles where they can serve others and in this moment we were compelled to bring hope in a time that is pretty uncertain and scary for so many.
MATT: What kind of impact did you see through working on this event?
JEN: This community that had so much grief felt so much love for that hour. I had parents and kids contact me afterwords - a flood of text messages and Facebook comments. Here are just a few of the messages we received:
“This will go down as one of the best days in these kids lives. I don’t know about you but I barely remember my walk across the stage. To have your, what seemed like, entire community come out to congratulate you is just simply amazing. The show of love and support, the sense of we are one, was beautiful. They clearly were so happy to see us and surprised! I’m seldom brought to tears. This was one of those days. That you #RVille I love this town. Congrats #RHS2020” - Kathy W.
“This is AMAZING!! Congratulations RHS class of 2020! I’m an alumni, and this really warms my heart to see. Once a tiger always a tiger! Roseville is such a great community. Thank you Westfield Galleria Roseville Police Department, and all the parents and community members” - Angie B.
“The fact that all of these entities supported this great event, speaks volumes about our community!! So grateful to live here!!” - Jamie P.
“I don’t have the words to express gratitude for our community members who went out of their way to show love and support to our Roseville class of 2020. Thank you Jeff Richardson and the Westfield Galleria Team, Dom Casey, Roseville Fire Department, City of Roseville, California Police Department, Jay Lopes, Patrick Ramos and all my fellow crazy senior parents!! This is what happens when a community comes together!! You brought back the smile to my daughters face! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!” - Denise W.
“This made me tear up when I drove by. So glad these kids & families are making the best of this situation” - Amanda M.
MATT: How did you see God at work in the roadblocks
JEN: All the time. Every time we had a win we had the wind taken out of our sails almost instantly. I had to go to my knees so many times. We were both in tears over this. How do you handle this monumental thing when you’re trying to spread some joy when you keep getting knocked down over and over. I couldn’t have handled this without my faith in God.
DOM: I would find myself praying for the people I was talking to - that they would hear it, understand it and be moved to action.
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Our mission as a church to inspire hope comes in every shape and size. From the little acts of kindness to a meal to a huge outreach project, if you have eyes to see them, we have opportunities around every corner to bring hope to the hopeless. The Roseville high school event is a great example of how one a family responded to the call of Jesus to get out of their comfort zone and take action in a time when so many were hopeless. It was a tangible act of love, hands and feet of Jesus moment, in a difficult time. As a church, may we find those opportunities in the circles where we do life, to make this kind of an impact.