The uniqueness of the situation, how it was not expected to go this way and how everyone has worked hard despite the challenges, were some of the main themes of this year’s Red Bud High School graduation.
Due to COVID-19, students have not been in session at school since March 16. As pandemic restrictions are still in place, how graduation was done this year had to be changed.
While students were not able to walk across the stage in front of a packed gymnasium, they were able to still walk the stage dressed in their cap and gown in front of family. Each student went to the school earlier this month to have their walk video taped, along with the usual graduation speeches, and all were combined into a video that the school posted on the evening of May 22 when the commencement ceremony was supposed to take place.
A link to view this year’s commencement video is still available on the school’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/RBHS132/.
“We have done everything possible to try and make this as close to a traditional graduation ceremony as we can,” Principal Rob Pipher said in the video.
He recalled how everyone’s lives suddenly changed back in March and the difficulties everyone faced, with teachers scrambling to help students continue to learn, administrators trying to keep up with mandates, and students and their parents facing the new reality of remote learning. “It has been a challenging time to say the least.”
But despite it all, everyone has done a great job adapting.
For more on the Class of 2020 Commencement Ceremony, please see this week’s print edition.