The COVID-19 crisis has forced schools to make some sad decisions and no students have been impacted more than the seniors.
The underclassman of Clearfield’s Junior-Senior High School Student Council wanted to do something to recognize the school’s 156 seniors and decided to surprise them by placing signs outside their homes.
Volunteer teachers took out signs last week and were “traveling everywhere” to reach all of the homes, according to Terry Struble, superintendent of the Clearfield Area School District.
“We wanted to let them know we are still thinking of them,” he said.
In response, the seniors have been returning photos of them with the signs as a thank you.
Signs are also being done at the Curwensville School District and for the Moshannon Valley School District.
“It is important they know they are still important to us,” said Mo Valley Superintendent Dr. John Zesiger.
In DuBois all of the DAHS 2020 graduates will have a 2×3 banner placed in their honor on the fence facing Liberty Boulevard in the coming weeks, said Superintendent Wendy Benton.
“These banners will include the student’s name, yearbook picture and the words ‘Class of 2020.’”
Another end-of-the-year event, the awards and scholarship ceremonies will be conducted as virtual presentations.
“We have a tremendous amount of scholarships and we are looking at doing this electronically on the district Facebook page,” said Ron Matchock, superintendent of the Curwensville School District.
This will be recorded and available to watch again later.
The Prom
Most of the schools have cancelled their proms and are now debating how they will handle graduation services.
“The senior sports season, the banquets for winter sports, the National Honor Society induction: there are so many things they are missing that we can’t give them back,” Struble said.
As for the prom, because of the restrictions in place, there was no way to re-schedule it during what was the school year, Struble said.
“If we had it after graduation, about 2/3 of those attending would no longer be our students,” Struble commented. “This makes it harder for the school to sponsor it.”
In the Curwensville Area School District, Matchock said they are postponing the prom hoping it can be scheduled during the summer.
“We want to keep that door open and not cancel it,” he said. Another option they are looking at is to invite the seniors back to attend the 2021 prom.
Dr. Gregg Paladina of The Philipsburg-Osceola School District said: “We talked to the student officers about this and had a Zoom meeting.”
In the end, they decided not to cancel it, and they have it tentatively scheduled for July 31.
Zesiger said they have not officially cancelled the Mo Valley prom yet, but “will prioritize which events need to happen.”
The DuBois Area School District is also tentatively planning a prom at the DuBois Country Club in June or July, provided the restrictions on social gatherings have been lifted, according to Benton.
Graduation Plans
Most of the districts are currently tossing around different ideas on how to handle graduation while they wait to see what restrictions are still in place later this month and in early June.
Clearfield Schools are hoping to hold graduation as an outdoor event, if they are legally allowed, Struble said, on Wednesday, June 3. If it rains, they will cancel and try Thursday and if the weather is a problem, they will try Friday, etc. he said.
“It will look different than graduations in the past, but we are still planning on a physical event. We don’t want to take if off the calendar.
“We can’t take that away from our kids, yet.”
They are also working on a virtual option that will allow speeches and a way to present diplomas.
In Curwensville, graduation is scheduled for June 5 and will hopefully be held outside on the football field.
“We don’t want to cheat our kids” and want to keep a positive outlook,” Matchock said. “If we can have a sense of normalcy, we will want to provide that.”
Paladino of the Philipsburg-Osceola Schools noted that Dr. Rachel Levine, the state’s Secretary of Health stated recently that due to restrictions on gatherings, “graduations will have to be remote” so they are preparing for a virtual graduation at this point.
“We will set appointments and video them getting their diplomas and put the footage together.” A viewing day will then be set for the film, possibly at the Super 322 Drive-In, Paladino said.
“We would love to have it on site,” he said with social distancing measured by the yard markers on the field. If it is held outside, it will be on June 5.
“It’s frustrating for the parents and for us.” Some of them wanted to push the date, but he noted that some students are going off to the military or other places.
“We are trying to make it as nice as possible for them,” Paladino said.
With all the challenges facing the school, Paladino commented that “this has been the hardest year in my career.”
Mo Valley’s graduation is scheduled for May 30.
“We have all kinds of options,” Zesiger said. How it will happen is going to be a “game time decision” depending on what is happening with restrictions at that time.
In addition to a virtual one, they are considering having the ceremony as a drive-thru service.
“We want the end of their senior year to be as special as everyone else’s.”
Benton has plans for a virtual DuBois graduation.
“In order to adhere to current guidelines limiting social gathering and to allow all of our 2020 graduates the opportunity to participate in our commencement ceremony, the majority of this ceremony will be pre-recorded with the link being made available to the public.
“All speeches and student performances will be filmed using the services and equipment offered by staff members of Tri-County Church,” which began this week.
The students dressed in their caps and gowns will be scheduled at a specific time for a staged presentation with their name being announced and them walking across the (Mansell Stadium) field or a stage picking up their diploma.
These videos will be edited together to make a complete service with a special viewing on a large outdoor screen to be scheduled later.
Prior to the screening, the graduates will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the DuBois Middle School parking lot to line up for an automobile “Parade of Graduates,” which will lead to the viewing spot.
