Massachusetts high school seniors may not be getting the graduation they expected, but come July, they will have the opportunity to experience a commencement fitting for the era of COVID-19.
Starting July 19, high schools will be permitted to hold outdoor, socially distanced graduations.
The Massachusetts Association of School Committees released a statement on May 20 detailing guidelines for outdoor high school graduations.
These include refraining from hugging or handshaking, limiting attendance to graduates and immediate family and wearing face coverings before, during and after the ceremony.
Anyone who refuses to wear a face covering without valid justification — such as a medical condition that would make it dangerous for them to do so — may be denied entry, according to the statement.
Glenn Koocher, executive director of MASC, said graduations are an important life event and should be treated with care during the pandemic.
“Graduations are going to be such an issue because they mean a lot to the graduates,” Koocher said. “They only graduate from high school once, unless you are a football prospect and we send you to prep school for a fifth year to get ready to go to the Ivy League or something.”
It’s important for the government to be understanding, collaborative and flexible when it comes to graduations, Koocher said.
“If you make rules and the people believe the rules are designed to be obeyed, rather than to protect and provide a legitimate public purpose,” Koocher said, “then you, the enforcer, will look like a fool, and people will not comply.”
However, when it comes to enforcing that individual schools remain within the social distancing guidelines, Koocher said MASC “has no authority to make anybody do anything.”
In the meantime, it’s up to each high school to decide how it will celebrate graduation in accordance with safety precautions.
Shrewsbury High School in Shrewsbury, Mass. is hosting a virtual graduation June 4 on local TV channels as well as a tentative in-person graduation on July 25.
Lanna Wang, 17, valedictorian at Shrewsbury High School and incoming freshman at Stanford University, said that although she wasn’t surprised her school opted for a virtual graduation, she’s disappointed she won’t be able to give her commencement speech in person.
“Making this speech and pre-recording it is not the same as actually delivering it in front of the whole class,” Wang said. “I am disappointed that I didn’t get to properly say goodbye to my teachers. That’s definitely pretty sad.”
Wang said the annual senior-faculty dinner, an event where students can formally say goodbye to their educators, was cancelled, but is in the works to be rescheduled for Thanksgiving weekend.
Among goodbyes and graduation plans, Wang said, the school’s prom was another tradition thwarted by the pandemic.
“We don’t have anything planned for prom, so that’s just completely gone,” Wang said. “A lot of people were mad about that.”
However, Wang said her school is making the best of the situation.
“I definitely feel like the teachers and the administration are all trying their best to make sure that the Class of 2020 feels loved,” Wang said.
The school sent out a flyer to the students with nine senior recognition events, including livestream award ceremonies, a drive-through parade and an airplane flyover.
At Sacred Heart School in Kingston, Mass., seniors will still attend a traditional ceremony, but not until late July. The class officially graduated on May 22.
Graduated Sacred Heart senior Kayla Turner, 17, is a rising freshman at Syracuse University. She said this graduation holds a special importance because the high school will be shutting down next year.
Due to finances and limited enrollment, Turner’s class will be the last to graduate from Sacred Heart.
When in-person classes ended abruptly in March, Turner said she didn’t realize it was the last day she would walk through the school’s corridors or eat at her favorite lunch table with friends.
“It was hard not really knowing when the last moment was,” Turner said. “But I think I got a life lesson out of it, just knowing you’re never going to know when the last time is.”
Yet, Turner said she remains thankful for the school’s continued efforts to offer the seniors a memorable sendoff.
“It’s important to keep gratitude in any circumstance, especially ones like these,” Turner said. “It ended on a good note, especially because we were able to do the precession, so it showed that [the administration] still cared about having some closure for the senior class.”
Sacred Heart also hosted a drive-by “Last Ride Parade” through the school’s parking lot Friday, where students received caps and gowns, transcripts and gift bags from teachers and faculty.
18-year-old Madison Larsen-Molina, a graduated senior at Sacred Heart and rising freshman at Boston University, said she is excited for the outdoor graduation in July.
“My friends that go to different schools usually graduate outdoors anyways,” Larsen-Molina said, “but since we have such a small graduating class, we wouldn’t have done that.”
Larsen-Molina said she felt the end of her senior year was lackluster.
“It wasn’t what I hoped for and it kind of sucked,” Larsen-Molina said. “But I mean, I went through it. I’m over it now.”
But when looking toward the beginning of her college career, Larsen-Molina said she is “wicked” excited.
Despite the challenges and the losses, Turner said she is appreciative of the unique opportunities senior year presented for her and her peers.
“I think it’s good to go through things like this as a class,” Turner said, “just so we have a kind of solidarity.”
The pandemic has ultimately shaped this graduating class, Turner said, but the resilience seniors have learned will prepare them for future trials and successes.
“Being able to get through this, survive the outcome of the pandemic,” Turner said, “I’m excited about where the Class of 2020 is going to go.”
