Jasper County gets creative with plans for graduation during coronavirus closure
Jasper County School District will take its sole high school’s 2020 graduation ceremony online, superintendent Rechel Anderson told students Wednesday.
Instead of an in-person ceremony, Ridgeland-Hardeeville High School will hold a virtual graduation on June 5 at 7 p.m. and a “senior celebration” drive-through on May 27 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Anderson’s letter to students came a few hours after SC Gov. Henry McMaster’s announcement that school buildings would remain closed for the rest of the school year due to coronavirus, as neighboring districts continue to debate how they’ll handle graduation.
As of Thursday, Beaufort County School District has not announced any graduation plans. However, high school principals met earlier this week to discuss possibilities, district spokesman Jim Foster said.
In her letter to students, Anderson wrote: “If we continued with a traditional ceremony as we know it, we would put all attendees and our community at risk of the ramifications of the virus.”
She said she knew that “anything less than a traditional ceremony” would not be well received, safety dictated that ”a non-traditional ceremony is the best option to move forward.”
At Ridgeland-Hardeeville High, seniors will be given a time and date to report to the school gymnasium one by one, where they will have the opportunity to walk across the stage to receive their diploma and take a picture in their cap and gown.
At the May 27 drive-through, cap-and-gown photos will be set up to view in the school’s parking lot, and seniors will receive their photo as a keepsake.
The actual graduation ceremony will be pre-recorded and will include speeches from principal O’Randal Jackson, superintendent Anderson and the district’s board of trustees. The valedictorian and salutatorian will also be asked to pre-record speeches.
The ceremony will air live June 5 at 7 p.m. on the Jasper County Channel, as well as the district’s Facebook page and website, where it will be archived.
In her letter, Anderson told seniors that they lived up to the spirit of their mascot — the jaguar — by remaining “great, strong determined and resilient” during the coronavirus pandemic.
“You are the first class to ever endure such an unprecedented time as this,” Anderson wrote. And just as jaguars do, “you’ve pressed on and faced a growing threat with a humble and grateful spirit.”