Two months after taking their last test and leaving their virtual classrooms behind, 422 members of the Habersham Central High Class of 2020 will finally get to walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. The school is moving forward with plans for an in-person, socially distanced graduation at Raider Stadium at 8 p.m. on Friday, July 31.
Letters went out to students and parents this morning. The plan, which was first presented publicly during a school board meeting Thursday night, limits each student to four guests. Graduates will be seated six-feet apart in chairs on the football field during the ceremony and there will be fewer dignitaries on the stage to comply with state social distancing guidelines. Dr. H. Stacy Nicholson, a member of the Habersham Central High School Class of 1977 and recipient of the school’s first Lifetime Achievement Award will be among them.
The graduates’ guests and families will be seated in groups of four in the stadium bleachers. “You do not have to be socially distanced from your family members,” HCHS Principal Jonathan Stribling explained during the board meeting, “you’ll be socially distanced from other groups.”
That social distancing will extend to post-ceremony celebrations, as well. Family and guests will not be allowed to ‘flood the field’ after graduation to celebrate with their seniors. Instead, graduates will be led off the field as a group and will return to the high school where they’ll reunite with their families.
To compensate, Stribling told the school board he plans to leave the gates to Raider Stadium open between 4-7 p.m. on July 28 so that students may take their own cap and gown photos on the field if they choose.
The school will hold two mandatory graduation practices at 8 a.m. on July 30 and 31. Seniors must participate in these practices if they plan to walk at graduation. Since Senior Honors Day was canceled, school administrators will recognize students’ achievements during graduation practice on July 31. “Parents who want to hear their child’s name called will be allowed to come into the stadium during practice on the morning of graduation,” Stribling said.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW HCHS GRADUATION PLAN
