Washita County High Schools Hold Improvised Graduation Ceremonies
The COVID-19 pandemic may have kept students out of the classrooms for the last portion of the school year, but it didn’t stop students, parents, family, and faculty from celebrating the milestone achievement of high school graduation. While the quarantine restrictions necessitated by the disease forced schools to move away from the traditional pomp and circumstance of the typical graduation ceremonies, Washita County’s high schools adapted and managed to provide unique and meaningful ways to send their graduates off in style.
As reported in the May 6 edition of The Cordell Beacon, Canute High School kicked off the graduation season with it’s individualized indoor ceremony. Each of the speakers for the ceremony presented their remarks to a virtually empty auditorium before the students individually proceeded through the empty auditorium and onto the stage to receive their diplomas. The event was filmed by Paragon TV, who will piece together the individual film to produce a graduation ceremony video for students and parents.
Burns Flat-Dill City High School followed suit on May 6, with their own improvised graduation ceremony. Observing the state’s social distancing guidelines, the school’s administration conducted their graduation ceremony in a similar fashion, also filmed by Paragon TV for later release.
Sentinel’s Blanche Thomas High School held a unique “drive-in” graduation on Friday, May 8. The graduates gathered in the parking lot of the Sentinel Co-op with their cars decorated for celebration. They were then led by the Sentinel Police on a parade through the entire town, ending in front of the high school. Principal Theron Graybill announced each of the graduates, who then in turn pulled up to the podium in their cars, got out, and received their diplomas.
Cordell High School wrapped up the graduation season with their ceremony on May 11. Students parked in front of the school auditorium building and waited in their vehicles until they were announced. Each student, individually, got out and walked the “stage,” the sidewalk in front of the auditorium, to receive their diplomas. Parents were allowed to exit their vehicles when their student was announced in order to take photos of the momentous occasion.