Graduate Together: Honoring the class of 2020

California teenager Amanda Zetina was only six years old when she came to the United States from Mexico. She said she was separated from her mother for nearly two years. 

This year, she becomes the first in her family to graduate from high school — after coming to the US as a young child only speaking Spanish. 

When she came to the US, she said she did not speak English and was made to repeat first grade. Next year, she’ll attend UC Davis on scholarship.

“Don’t let society limit where you can go. Like I said, ‘Push yourself. Everything’s up to you,’” Zetina said.  

“Happy Days” star Henry Winkler had some encouraging words to the millions of students whose graduation ceremonies were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is a very weird time. Isn’t it? I mean it might be the strangest time in my lifetime and maybe your entire lifetime. But this is what I want you to know, whenever we get back to whatever normal is, this world, this country, your state, your city, is going to need everything you can do. Your energy, your imagination, your tenacity, your emotionality,” Winkler said.

Winkler, who played Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on the iconic ’70s sitcom, went on to describe his own struggles in school. He said he was told he would never achieve.

“Here’s what I learned: none of that matters. What matters is you. What matters is what your gift is, what you’re going to find inside yourself and you’re going to give the world your power. That is the number one thing for you to remember,” Winkler said.

JsoAlexander named the class of 2020 the “class of the pandemic” filled with heroes that made it to this day.

The “Seinfeld” star said graduating seniors are heroes in the same way health care workers, sanitation workers and mail carriers are heroes.

After the pandemic is over and “everything goes back to normal,” he said these students will still be “the one and only extraordinary class of 2020.” 

Amy Schumer offered some advice to the class of 2020: “Don’t try to make your parents proud of you. Make yourself happy.”

The comedic actress urged the graduating class to “be happy and healthy and live everyday because you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow because you don’t.”

Keegan-Michael Key said he’s proud of everyone in the class of 2020, including “Blakes, Denises, Jaclyns… Aarons, especially the Aarons. To the entire graduating class of 2020, congratulations. Go get em!”

It’s a reference to his famous “Key & Peele” skit where he played a substitute teacher messing up common names.

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Former baseball player Alex Rodriguez addressed 2020 graduates during a CNN special and the “strange time ” they are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s a strange time for all of us. But we will get through it. I know it’s hard now, but this is certainly a year you will never forget. And your education and degree will take you places and help you succeed as the world gets back on its feet,” he said.

Rodriguez said he was incredibly proud of the graduates and dreamed “about being in your shoes my entire life.”

“Now you can go out and accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish, whether it’s in business, or medicine, athletics, art, writing or anything. Go out there and reach for the stars,” he said.

Watch the moment:

Hollywood actor Gal Gadot told 2020 graduates that even though the next steps in their lives are unclear and they may feel powerless, they should trust themselves.

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The two primetime graduation specials airing on CNN tonight will honor the class of 2020.

The first special, “Class of 2020: In This Together,” will air at 7 p.m. ET on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español.

“Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020” will air at 8 p.m. ET.

The second special will stream live, without requiring a cable log-in, on CNN.com’s homepage and across mobile devices via CNN’s apps for iOS and Android.

It can also be viewed on CNNgo (at CNN.com/go on your desktop, smartphone, and iPad, and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast and Android TV). The special will also be available on demand to subscribers via cable/satellite systems, CNNgo platforms and CNN mobile apps.

CNN will air a two-hour, primetime special honoring the class of 2020, as millions of students across the nation have had their graduating ceremonies canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

CNN’s Erin Burnett, Don Lemon and Jake Tapper will host “Class of 2020: In This Together” at 7 p.m. ET.

The first hour will be produced by CNN and will feature former President Bill Clinton, Amy Schumer, Jason Alexander, Gal Gadot, Jack Gilinsky, Henry Winkler, Alex Rodriguez, Keegan-Michael Key and Anthony Anderson with performances by Yo-Yo Ma, Bazzi and Foster the People.

In the second hour, CNN will broadcast “Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020,” which is hosted by The LeBron James Family Foundation, The Entertainment Industry Foundation, and XQ Institute.

The event will feature former President Barack Obama, LeBron James, the Jonas Brothers, Zendaya, Olivia Wilde, Ben Platt, Megan Rapinoe, Yara Shahidi, Lena Waithe, Pharrell Williams, Malala Yousafzai and more.

The one-hour, commercial-free event will be carried by more than 20 broadcast and cable networks and streaming channels throughout the US. Proceeds will benefit DonorsChoose and America’s Food Fund.