Uncertainty still looms over many school districts about how to honor the 2021 graduating class whose symbolic prize of a commencement ceremony has been checked by pandemic social distancing restrictions. School administrators are looking at options ranging far and wide, but the reality of the situation is that unless state governments relax distancing rules soon, the best solution is a virtual graduation ceremony.
This article outlines how and why these 3 steps to a virtual graduation ceremony could be music to your ears. Cue Pomp and Circumstance.
Across the nation, school districts are being forced to do multiple- scenario planning for everything from budgets, school year calendars, remote learning, website design, and more. Toss in a graduation ceremony that has to occur on the front end of all that. Whew!
Some administrators are tentatively planning to push back ceremonies to July or August, kicking around football stadiums as potential sites for full-scale ceremonies. Mall parking lots and drive-in movie lots are in play as well. But the math of social distancing logistics doesn’t add up to even delayed events being a good solution.
Logistically, even at two tickets per student, most football stadiums cannot accommodate the limited number of guests. Then there’s the matter of staging and procession for your students – and entrance and egress for your guests and staff. Oh, and masks. Everyone will have a mask?
Social distancing requirements preclude realistic execution of these options. Bottom line is any plan to congregate is a shot in the dark due to current health risks.
Even without the threat of rain – boy, what we’d give for those days, huh? – so many variables and obstacles and the multiple scenarios are proving difficult for administrators, students and families to do any firm, sensible planning.
I don’t know about you, but this prevailing uneasiness and worry create a sense of uncertainty. A cloud of non-closure hovers over your students, parents, teachers, and other staff.
A virtual graduation ceremony is certain; utilizes the technology in hand; can be ultimately more efficient, progressive/hip, and, not incidentally, solves the ticket allocation limit so many schools are forced to place on an in-person event.
Virtual student profiles on your school website are much more engaging than an alphabetical listing in a hard-copy program. Easy for your students to share on social media too!
The first step in your 2020 graduation ceremony planning is to inform your students, parents, staff and the rest of your school community. Don’t forget about the media: since it’s a virtual graduation ceremony (VGC), news of your plans should get some media attention.
This is graduation headquarters for your school. It’s a dedicated page on your website that contains all the key information and links your school community needs to access. Your VGC should be comprised of:
Include all your important graduation info on your Virtual Graduation Ceremony Center page.
No graduation ceremony would be complete without a program, but rather than the traditional hard-copy version, your 2020 program should be posted online, linked to your VGC page. A virtual graduation program is far superior to any printed ones, for it includes images and additional info about the grad.
Just like a traditional graduation ceremony, your 2020 virtual version needs to be produced. You still need the presentations, commencement speech, and of course, the students, but rather than a venue, staging, chairs and good weather, this year’s is all hosted and conducted on your website.
Live stream your principal's address, then post an archive version of it on your Virtual Graduation Center page.
With or without students
Instagram extension slide show – In addition to posting your 2020 grad profiles on your VGC (see above), there’s a cool app/extension available from Elfsite that enables your students to post to a dedicated virtual graduation Instagram feed using the #yourschool2020grads hashtag you create. It’s simple to implement and inexpensive.
NOTE: You should have a designated school staff monitor this and all school social media feeds to prevent any negative posts to this feed.
In these times when everything from when and where you can eat, shop, and return to work and school is up in the air, making firm decisions about gathering hundreds and – in some cases, thousands – of people together for commencement are problematic at best, litigious at worst.
Sure it’s a major shift in big, important tradition, but a virtual graduation ceremony with the elements outlined above is your quickest, easiest, most cost-effective way to handle the uncertainty that surrounds the 2020 high school graduation scene.
So, what are your graduation plans?