Originally posted in the Henrico Citizen:

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine this week launched the “Everybody’s the Graduation Speaker” video contest, through which he’s inviting Virginia’s graduating high school seniors to submit a video of an original speech they would like to give at graduation.

With many in-person graduations likely to be postponed or canceled because of the pandemic, Kaine will select speeches to feature on his Facebook page and website during May and June to celebrate the graduates.

“One of the many groups of Virginians I’ve been thinking about during this challenging time is the graduates of the Class of 2020, many of whom won’t have the graduation experience they’ve been planning for a long time,” he said. “I feel a sense of loss about that, so I want to do something fun for them and give all high school seniors the chance to be a graduation speaker. I look forward to hearing the wisdom Virginia’s future leaders have to offer and sharing their inspiration with others.”

Kaine is encouraging students to film videos of speeches that are 10 minutes or less and submit them to [email protected] by May 15.