EPHRATA — Ephrata head baseball coach Jason Laugen waved as cars passed by Johnson-O’Brien Stadium on Friday night, illuminated in honor of the 2020 senior class. Ephrata High School took part in the Be the Light campaign for the second week in a row, with schools around the area continuing to do their part to honor their students.

For the last few weeks, schools statewide have been turning on stadium lights at 8:20 p.m. — or 20:20 military time — for 20 minutes to showcase the 2020 graduating class.

Ephrata began its celebrations last week by turning on the lights at Kiwanis Field; the plan is to take it to a different facility for each week moving forward.

Many schools began taking part in the campaign on Friday, April 10, while some schools elected to wait a week due to Good Friday. Some may continue on Friday nights, others may not.

Quincy High School saw more than 100 vehicles come down Jackrabbit Street Northeast in front of an illuminated Jackrabbit Stadium on Friday, April 10. Almira/Coulee-Hartline High School took part in the ceremony the last two weeks, lighting up the football stadium, but did not take part this past Friday night.

On Friday, Lions Field was lit up, and the Moses Lake High School softball and baseball teams were recognized with players’ names read over the loudspeakers.

“With not only incredible talent but tremendous character and a championship heart, there is no doubt we would’ve won an eighth consecutive Big Nine league title and District 6 title and would’ve been ready to go compete for a 2020 state championship,” head softball coach Mike Hofheins said. “Although we will not get to win those things on the field, we still have the talent, character and heart that will get us through this difficult time and sustain us moving forward.”

Some schools in the area elected to hold a one-time ceremony for community members to come out to support the seniors. Other districts have elected to continue the event each Friday for the remainder of the 2020 school year.

Ephrata athletic director Bryan Johnson helped coordinate the event at the high school, working with the head coaches in the program. Laugen said he volunteered to turn on the lights at Johnson-O’Brien Stadium on Friday to give him a chance to get back on the field.

“It’s been tough,” he said. “I’m completely out of my routine. I’ve been going in and doing things with the school, like lunch handouts, to try and keep myself from kind of stewing on these things.”

Laugen said the best response to dealing with everything that’s going on came from one of his senior baseball players: Laugen was calling seniors to inform them about the season officially being canceled and apologizing to his players, and one of them said, “‘Why are you sorry, you can’t control what’s going on?’” Laugen said. “I said I just felt bad for him. He said, ‘Coach, you can’t control it. It is what it is.’”

In his first night taking part in the Be the Light events, Laugen said the response was pretty good from the community, with cars driving by, honking, and waving. Many of the cars featured names of seniors, or simply messages of support to the 2020 class.

Laugen said it was great to see the seniors honored but was honestly left thinking about what they were missing.

“It was great seeing the lights on, but it brings back the memories of what could have been for this group of kids,” Laugen said.

As a coach, Laugen feels terrible for the senior athletes who’ve seen their final seasons ripped away. While Laugen said the coaching staff has tried to keep in touch, working with their players while unable to meet on the field, he said some athletes have moved on to other things once the season was canceled.

“Some of them have jobs,” Laugen said. “They’re just trying to find something to keep them going.”

Soap Lake football coach Tony Blankenship said they saw the turnout grow in their second week of taking part in the Be the Light campaign. Soap Lake athletic director Keith Laughlin and Blankenship helped coordinate the school’s participation in the campaign, with secretary Erin Allen putting together a slideshow for the seniors to view as well.

“We’re trying to do the best that we can that they can remember something out of this, more than missing out on their school time,” Blankenship said.

Around 20 cars made the trek around the field last week, which Blankenship said is a turnout they’re excited about considering their size. In addition to getting to see students and seniors, Blankenship said former staff members made their way out to support the 2020 class as well.

Blankenship said the full range of emotions was on display as students and families came out in support on Friday night.

“I’ve seen a lot, the look of ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ the look of just tears; there’s been smiles,” he said. “There’s been everything except mad faces I think.”

While the past few weeks have been trying, Blankenship said the staff and administration were able to hit the ground running to implement their online teaching. An old-school guy, Blankenship said he’s had to adjust to becoming more “tech savvy.”

Blankenship said the school district is also planning on honoring its senior athletes with a procession through town on May 21, similar to a state tournament celebration.

Blankenship said he has received a lot of responses from students telling him how much they’d like to go back to school. For many of them, Blankenship said they told him they didn’t realize how much they took it for granted.