ROCKINGHAM — Raider Magic was in full force Friday as the community and Richmond Senior High School took a different spin on Friday night lights to support its students, especially its senior class.
Out of school since March 13 due to the coronavirus outbreak, Richmond administrators put on a dazzling 15-minute light show inside Raider Stadium.
Beginning at 8:20 p.m., which is 2020 in military time, principal Jim Butler, along with secretary Melissa Coulthard and athletic director Rob Ransom, lit up the sky to honor this year’s graduating class.
The idea to inspire and remember the seniors who are missing out on the tail end of their high school careers came from the suggestion of Sandra Steadman, whose son Blaise Steadman is a senior.
“I read where another school did something similar and I sent it to Mr. Butler,” Steadman explained. “My original thought was to light up all the sports fields for students who are not getting to play their spring sports, especially for the seniors because I feel like they have missed out on so much.
“I thought it would be a good thing for morale,” she continued. “It added a new spin on Friday night lights and I sure wish the kids could drive through next time and decorate their trucks.”
A strong showing of support from students and their families, along with teachers, lined the entrance to the high school. Cars were also lined up along US Highway 1 with spectators.
The show opened with Journey’s “Don't Stop Believing,” which played to solid green lights from the stadium’s MUSCO LED lighting system.
Next was a song chosen by the members of the senior senate, which was “Six Feet Apart,” an unreleased original by country singer superstar and North Carolina native Luke Combs.
“Our senate chose this song because it pretty much sums up how we’re all feeling right now,” Jadyn Johnson, the senate’s historian, said. “It starts off by saying how this time of year is normally the time people get excited, but it’s kind of impossible right now with everything going on.
“All of our senior events that we’ve been looking forward to for years have been cancelled,” she added. “The song signifies that we miss being around one another and we know that we’ll come out of this stronger than ever.”
Other songs featured in the display of lights were “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus, Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and concluded with the unofficial school anthem “Richmond County Stand Up” by local artist Yung Rich.
During the latter songs, the lights flashed white, green and gold and were met by applause and the honking of car horns following the show’s completion.
“As a student of the class of 2020, this gesture means a lot,” Johnson said after watching the light show. “It’s good to know Mr. Butler, along with everyone else in the community, is making such a big effort to make us feel better during this time.”
Butler, who is in his fourth year at the high school, and who has 30 years of experience in education, said the performance was the least he could do during such an unprecedented time.
“We’re just trying to find a way to let our students know we’re still thinking about them every day,” he explained. “I’ve seen a lot of things in 30 years but nothing close to this. I’ve had two kids graduate from Richmond, and I graduated from Richmond, and I can’t imagine the potential of losing out on your senior year.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to save senior prom and graduation, but in the meantime, we made this decision to let our students know they’re the reason we have Richmond Senior High School. We want them to stay strong during this time.”
Although it wasn’t an ideal situation to replace some of the lost events of the final semester of the school year, Butler said the light show was intended to give the senior class a positive memory.
“I want the kids to have good memories, and you’re supposed to create memories during your senior year,” Butler noted. “I don’t want their memory to be closing school and the virus. Instead it can be gathering up one night and seeing the lights shine for them.”
In the future, Butler hopes to arrange other events like the light show to continue to serve as a reminder to his students that the school and his staff are thinking about them.
The stadium lights will stay on all Friday night into Saturday morning to shine as a beacon of hope and inspiration.
Click here to watch the full light show, or scroll to the bottom of the page to see the embedded video. The Richmond Observer does not own the rights to the music in the video.
