There will be plenty of firsts in store for the high school graduates of 2020 and one of those will be the graduation ceremony itself.
To accommodate the public health restrictions caused by COVID-19, graduates were filmed walking across the stage at Elphinstone Secondary earlier this June. No parents or families were allowed inside.
Starting next week, separate videos that captured those moments for the cohort at each secondary school will be released through School District No. 46’s YouTube channel.
The videos are being released publicly, “so that our families, scholarship and bursary donors, community members and supporters can all see the videos at the same time,” said director of instruction Paul Bishop. Students will also be able to download the videos and photographs from the film company, GradsBC.
The release dates correspond to the original graduating schedule. Up first will be the Sunshine Coast Alternative School ceremony at 7 p.m. on June 22, followed by Elphinstone Secondary School on June 23. Chatelech Secondary School and Pender Harbour Secondary School videos will be released June 24.
Prom is a no-go this year, said Bishop, but plans are underway to acknowledge students in different ways by their schools and families.
“Elphinstone Secondary students will be invited in to pick up their grad folders, letters and a special acknowledgement from the district,” said Bishop, while “Chatelech Secondary students will have one final day on site to say goodbye to staff and participate in some final activities. Pender Harbour students will be going to dinner with their families to watch the video and have their traditional family grad banquet.”
Watch the videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyWKJG4WZsXGI_X5xtDCbbA
