In some ways, high school graduation in the middle of July felt overdue — but overall, it felt really great, Center Grove graduates said after their ceremony Saturday.
“It feels different being back, but it was good seeing everyone,” graduate Hailey Amato said.
Her classmate Bryce Murphy added that he was glad the in-person ceremony happened and that it was on the field where he played high school football.
But with graduation so much later than usual, they’ve also started to move on to their next steps. Amato is taking summer courses at Ivy Tech Community College. And Murphy said he already has his class schedule for Auburn University in the fall.
In the spring, Indiana school leaders faced a difficult choice: With school buildings closed through June 30, what would they do about graduation for the class of 2020?
Next year: Central Indiana schools release district-specific COVID-19 plans
Center Grove was one of several Indianapolis-area high schools, including Brownsburg, New Palestine and Zionsville, that rescheduled their graduation ceremonies to this weekend. More area schools have rescheduled graduation for the coming weeks.
But having graduation also meant making adjustments to make sure it could happen.
Graduates and their guests had assigned seats that were socially distanced. Everyone was required to wear a mask. As students heard their names and walked across the stage, there were no handshakes, no diploma covers handed out.
“Pomp and Circumstance” still played, but graduates started the ceremony from their seats instead of parading in. Per Center Grove tradition, the choir still sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” but it was a recorded video created from videos of individual students singing instead of a live performance.
Yet there were still the things that mark high school graduation as a milestone: the caps and gowns and turning of the tassels, the proud parents cheering, taking photos and holding flowers and balloons, the speeches of gratitude and optimism from students. And the cheers from the stands after their graduate’s name was read aloud.
Making graduation happen
For the class of 2020, the end of their high school careers looked nothing like it did for the classes before them. Schools started to close in March to stop the spread of the coronavirus, and in April, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that all school buildings would remain closed through June 30.
That meant that district leaders had to cancel end-of-the-year events like prom and awards banquets or make them virtual. And they had to get creative when it came to graduation.
Some schools decided on virtual ceremonies. Others used cars to help with social distancing and had drive-thru-style ceremonies. And others decided to postpone until July or August and hope that they would be allowed.
Center Grove surveyed its high school community, and overwhelmingly, people wanted in-person graduation to commemorate students’ hard work, said Superintendent Richard Arkanoff.
The most optimistic choice was this weekend — it was the weekend after the Fourth of July, the day the state was scheduled to enter Stage 5, the final stage of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s reopening plan.
Planning started months ago with the state and county health departments and with the governor’s office, Arkanoff said. “We were in touch almost daily.”
And changes were still being made as graduation day got closer.
Instead of starting Stage 5 on July 4, Holcomb announced on July 1 that the state would move to Stage 4.5 instead. Graduations would still be possible, as long as they met state requirements and followed the Indiana Department of Education guidelines.
To adjust, Center Grove cut the student processional at the beginning of the ceremony, because the plan was to line up students inside before proceeding outdoors, but doing that would exceed the 250-person limit. Roughly 500 of the 615 students in the class attended the ceremony.
Then, there was a spike of coronavirus cases the day before the ceremony. The Indiana State Department of Health reported 748 new cases of coronavirus Friday. Additionally, Saturday's count rose to 793. Together, they're the two highest caseloads this month.
So more adjustments were made, including adding bathrooms and making sure that the guests in the bleachers didn’t exceed 250 people per set of bleachers.
Additionally, Center Grove asked anyone attending to perform a self-check for COVID-19 symptoms before graduation, and guests and graduates were required to wear face masks. The exceptions were when students got their picture taken and if they were speaking at the podium.
A graduation to remember
Having graduation was “the right thing to do,” Arkanoff said. “They’ve worked to so hard to get to this point.”
Plus, he said, the biggest message to the class of 2020 is to not give up and keep trying and that this event exemplified those ideas.
“There were 100 roadblocks and we were still able to do it and do it safely,” he said.
Parents and students said they were glad that the school waited for graduation and didn’t opt for a virtual ceremony. They also praised the school for doing a good job.
"I have to commend the administration: They could have not done it. They had an excuse," said Chip Murphy, whose son Bryce graduated Saturday. Murphy added that the school also had to invest time and money into the event.
In her speech, salutatorian Anna Puderbaugh thanked the school for the event.
“I know we all greatly appreciate having this ceremony to look back on," she said.
Puderbaugh and valedictorian Vinay Bhamidipati spoke with optimism about the future in their speeches. Puderbaugh called on her classmates to make a difference in the lives of others and Bhamidipati urged them to search for their purpose and to not be afraid to experiment.
In his message to graduates, principal Jeff Henderson said he knows the students have seen a lot of change in their lives. And he knows they’ll see more.
He spoke about the events of the end of their senior year from the coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Henderson called on the students to confront evil and injustice.
“You are a talented group of students," he said. "but more importantly, you're good people.”
Call IndyStar education reporter MJ Slaby at 317-447-1586 or email her at mslaby@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mjslaby.
"center" - Google News
July 12, 2020 at 01:59AM
https://ift.tt/3gKpL2Y
'Right thing to do': Center Grove celebrates class of 2020 with in-person graduation - IndyStar
"center" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bUHym8
https://ift.tt/2zR6ugj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "'Right thing to do': Center Grove celebrates class of 2020 with in-person graduation - IndyStar"
Post a Comment