Quincy High School graduation: A unique experience that may impact future graduations
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 5 years, 6 months AGO
It was a historic act of adaptation as seniors set aside traditional notions of a graduation ceremony and drove in with their families to receive their diplomas in what became one big parade.
Emry Dinman/Columbia Basin Herald
Before receiving their diplomas, grads drove through a number of gauntlet stations, where volunteers handed them doughnuts, cookies, pendants and finally a rose.
Emry Dinman/Columbia Basin Herald
Graduates didn’t stand alone at Saturday’s ceremony, bringing parents, siblings, and cousins along with them to show their support and cheer them on.
Emry Dinman/Columbia Basin Herald
As each grad came onstage to receive their diplomas, Quincy High School Principal Marcus Pimpleton stood next to them for a final photograph to commemorate their achievement.
Emry Dinman/Columbia Basin Herald
QUINCY – In past years, what was going to happen at graduation was pretty much set. But this year, what is considered the traditional graduation ceremony has been impossible, due to state regulations surrounding COVID-19. School districts across the state and the nation have been coming up with alternative ways to celebrate the accomplishments of their graduates.
“Obviously it is really important to celebrate the milestone of students going from high school to whatever their careers may be,” said Marcus Pimpleton, principal of Quincy High School. At Quincy High School, the decisions surrounding this year’s graduation began with a Zoom meeting between students and Pimpleton. Pimpleton laid out the restrictions being put on graduation by the state and the local health district and presented ideas of what other schools were doing for graduation. After talking to students, Pimpleton met with parents.
“We wanted to make sure that whatever we did, families and students felt like we had adequately commemorated that milestone,” Pimpleton said. “The students indicated that they wanted a parade and virtual graduation.”
One of the early ideas was to have students come and take pictures for the virtual graduation. But as ideas kept being discussed, it was suggested that both events happen on the same day. Then a parent suggested that perhaps a gauntlet, where students could stop at different stations on their way through the parking lot and receive items like doughnuts, cookies, yard signs and T-shirts. That idea was also incorporated into the parade-day events.
Quincy High School’s graduation, which took place on Saturday, June 6, involved 177 seniors. Each senior was allowed to have two vehicles – one for themselves and one for family members.
“For families to be there for that moment, this was more exciting for the families,” Pimpleton said.
Pimpleton credits part of the success of the parade and the day’s activities to the staggered times seniors arrived for the parade. Seniors and their families arrived at the staging area at seven different times throughout the event, allowing families not to wait as long for their turn in the spotlight.
Throughout the parade and graduation events, volunteers manned booths and stations to check seniors and their families into the parade and hand out goodies and commemorative items. These volunteers were community members who had signed up to help make the seniors day special.
Prior to graduation day, the senior parents did a lot of behind-the-scenes work, including getting donations for items handed out in the gauntlet.
“The parent group did a lot of legwork leading up to the event,” Pimpleton said.
An online form was created by the school district that allowed the community to sign up to help the day of the event. Pimpleton wanted parents to be able to spend the day with their seniors.
For those family members who couldn’t attend the event, various parts of the event were livestreamed on different platforms. For example, the speeches and events on stage were broadcast live on Facebook.
“Everybody was smiling all the way through,” Pimpleton said. “All indications are that the kids and families were happy with what took place.”
As Pimpleton looks forward to next year’s graduation, he thinks that there are some pieces from this year that the school will be able to incorporate into the next one.
“I think that we upped the bar in a lot of ways with this,” Pimpleton said. “Some things are really easy to duplicate.”
Pimpleton thinks that the ceremony could be livestreamed for those who can’t attend. He also said that parents and students should be consulted concerning what they would like to have in the graduation ceremony.
“That’s what we had to do in this situation,” Pimpleton said. “Taking the time to ask students and parents in the future is good practice.”
While Saturday’s ceremony lasted four hours, Pimpleton said that the length of time spent didn’t matter as much as celebrating the achievements of the seniors.
“This student has been 12 to 13 years in the Quincy school system,” Pimpleton said. “We celebrate them for one day. If they (future classes) wanted the same thing as the class of 2020 had, I wouldn’t be concerned. Families getting involved and being in the event, I think that’s worth the extra time. A lot of kids don’t get the experience of all the attention being about them. I can see us doing something like that again.”
Since families were allowed to accompany their graduates, a lot of younger children were able to participate in the event.
“It makes an impression of the importance of finishing high school,” Pimpleton said. “Imagine if you were in first grade and riding in back of the car cheering on your big cousin. What does this say to you?”
Pimpleton noted that one of the school’s juniors was watching the entire ceremony.
“It will be interesting to see what he wants for his graduation next year,” he said.
Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at [email protected].
