Celebrating graduation amongst a pandemic

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

Schools in Strathmore and Wheatland County have adapted and found ways to celebrate graduation this year amid school closures, bans on public gatherings, and even a social distancing parade cancellation order from Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Wheatland Crossing will be the first school in the area to offer a graduation ceremony, albeit a different ceremony from that which they are used to. 

“We feel it is very important to offer our graduates a chance to celebrate their accomplishments over the last 13 years,” said grad adviser and teacher Tiffany Phillips. “A graduation ceremony is a way to recognize their efforts and acknowledge one of the first major milestones in their young adult life. Though their senior year was cut short, graduation is something they have strived towards and anticipated.” 

Along with displaying posters of each grad along the fence at the school throughout the month of June, Wheatland Crossing will host a drive-through ceremony on June 12 that is only open for graduates and immediate family. Community members and extended family are invited to tune in on Facebook for a livestream of the event. 

During the ceremony, approved by a health inspector with AHS, five graduates will be driven to an outside stage area with parent parking close by to watch them walk the stage. After walking the stage, each graduate will have their picture taken with a cardboard cutout of principal Douglas Raycroft and will return to their vehicle. After the five graduates have walked the stage and had their picture taken, five new graduates and their families will be rotated into the staging area. 

Precautions will include only allowing the graduates to exit vehicles and sanitizing the cardboard cutout after every graduate gets their picture taken. Certificates will be handed out either before or after the event to limit contact with multiple people. 

“While the celebration may look different this year, we as a school think it is important to celebrate our graduates and their families, (and) we wish to congratulate all the 2020 graduates,” said Phillips. 

Holy Cross Collegiate

Holy Cross Collegiate will be holding a drive-thru grad on June 13. Graduates will have the opportunity to show up 15 minutes before a pre-booked time slot and be able to get out of their vehicle and walk a decorated stage in the parking lot to receive their diploma before getting back into their vehicle. Graduates are allowed one or two vehicles of family members to cheer them on as they walk the stage and show off their formal grad wear. The school will also host a virtual grad on June 26 that will be livestreamed for students and family, and will follow a more traditional grad format that will start off with a mass lead by a bishop and will then continue with traditional speeches.

Strathmore High School

Strathmore High School will host a virtual grad on June 20 that will include as many traditional graduation features as possible. There will be an address from the class valedictorian, principal Kyle Larson and superintendents of the school. They will also do a drive-thru that will allow students the opportunity to walk across a stage that will be set up in front of the school. Extra features such as special presentations will also be held to fill up time which is usually taken up by grads crossing the stage. The entire process will be recorded so that students and family will be able to watch the whole presentation across different social media platforms when it is convenient for them.

Strathmore Storefront School and Golden Hills Learning Academy

The Strathmore Storefront School and Golden Hills Learning Academy have set up a special graduation display in the front window of the Golden Hills Learning Centre on Third Ave. Each graduate has a picture printout in the window to help celebrate their accomplishment. On June 11, several teachers will also be decorating their cars and visiting the graduates personally outside their homes to deliver a graduation package containing personal gifts and memories as well as their official certificates and awards. Graduates will also receive lawn signs and their grad caps. They will get their pictures taken and each home visit will be recorded so that each grad will have a personal video with pictures, along with official words from the principal and the valedictorian’s speech. A generic video will also be posted onto each school’s respective websites for family, friends and community members to view