Due to the impact of COVID-19, graduations across the country have been canceled or postponed, Habersham county not being exempt. Their high school graduation, currently planned for July 31, leaves some students behind—those going into military service.
Grant Williams could have gone to Truett McConnell University on a wrestling scholarship, but he says it didn’t feel like his calling. What did, however, was joining the military. He’s joining the army in memory of his biological father, who passed when he was 4 years old and following in the footsteps of the father who raised him and grandfather. “Losing my senior year wasn’t too bad— until they told us about the graduation,” Williams says.
“Losing a senior [year] has affected us in many ways. For him, not being able to finish out his senior year has been tough,” Natasha Jones, Williams’s mother says. “He has missed out on his prom, senior activities, and now he is missing out on the one thing he has worked so hard for – the biggest ceremony of his life and saying his proper goodbyes to his friends.”
Jones says that she was looking forward to seeing her firstborn walk across the stage at graduation and see him in his cap and gown, as well as all the festivities that surround this celebratory event. “This was not how we expected him or his peers to graduate,” she says.
Williams has family that he hasn’t seen in years that had made plans to visit him for his graduation and military sendoff, and his church had plans to give him a proper goodbye before he leaves, but everything is on hold due to concerns about COVID-19. “We absolutely cannot risk him getting sick before he leaves for the Army,” says Jones. “He wants to see his family. He wants to see his friends. As a mom, telling him ‘no’ and ‘it is not safe’ breaks my heart.”
Habersham schools weren’t about to let seniors in similar positions to Williams leave without recognition, though. The Habersham County Board of Education has decided to offer a special ceremony during their May 11 meeting to recognize their seniors entering into the military.
“Having this special ceremony for him and for the others is an indescribable feeling,” Jones says. “Knowing that my son is getting a graduation he and the others deserve is a priceless moment I will forever cherish.”
Jones says she’s grateful to Habersham schools for going “above and beyond” in this unique scenario, and her son shares her sentiments. “I cannot thank Habersham County Schools enough for the support that they are showing the military students,” Williams says. “I have not heard [of] any other surrounding school [system] doing something like this; this makes us very unique.”
The Habersham County Board of Education will live stream this special ceremony to maintain social distancing standards while giving the community the opportunity to support these graduating seniors. The live stream will be linked from the Habersham Schools website.
“If I had to say anything to any other parent in my situation, be proud, be very proud! Our children are going to serve our country in [a pandemic],” Jones says. “We need to think about this time as being a blessed time for us parents because we [are] able to spend extra time at home with them […] before they leave to start their new journey in life.”
