The past two years have been strange, to say the least. From school being shut down and starting online classes to wearing masks to school every day and social distancing. The graduation ceremony was one of the many events that were limited the past two years due to COVID. This year it looks like we will finally be returning to normal.
Two years ago when COVID first hit, school was completely closed down and went to online learning. At first it was thought that school would only be shut down for a week or two, but it ended up being shut down for the rest of the year. This caused the graduation ceremony for the seniors to be very unusual. The actual graduation ceremony was pushed back until July, and even then everyone had to be masked and be six feet apart, including the graduates.
The next year wasn’t much different. Masks were required and so was social distancing. The only people who could come and watch the graduation in person were parents, step-parents, and legal guardians. With all of these restrictions, you would think that it would make the graduation ceremony feel less special, but when I asked Jack Kaiser, a 2021 graduate, he said, “I didn’t think it made much of a difference, but the whole year leading up to that definitely felt weird.” Mrs. Brunton, a senior advisor, had similar thoughts, saying, “We did our best to make graduation feel as normal as possible.”
Thankfully, we won’t have any restrictions this year due to COVID. Everything around graduation is going back to normal. Each student is allowed to reserve seats for up to ten guests. If someone wants to attend but doesn’t have a ticket, they will be able to walk in and hope to find a seat in the auditorium. No masks or social distancing will be required for the graduation ceremony. The senior parade, which started the first year of COVID, will continue to be held following the graduation ceremony.
This was a great relief for the senior class. They are glad to not have to deal with all of the rules and restrictions that previous classes had to deal with before. Ashton Spitzack said, “I’m glad that my whole family can come to my graduation instead of just my parents, like they had to do in previous years. It will make it feel more special and like things are finally getting back to normal.”