Wawasee Plans To Hold Mid-July Graduation Ceremony
Press Release
SYRACUSE — On Monday evening, May 4, Geoff Walmer, Wawasee High School principal, released the following letter regarding a graduation ceremony for the class of 2020:
“Dear Seniors:
“We wanted to wait until Governor Holcomb’s announcement this past Friday before finalizing any plans with regards to a graduation ceremony. Now that we better understand the road map for Indiana, our graduation ceremony committee consisting of seniors, parents of seniors, teachers and administrators have settled on a plan to honor you, the class of 2020.
“Your voices have been heard. We know the one thing that was stripped away from you by COVID-19 was the ability to see your classmates one last time and to say a proper goodbye. While no plan for honoring you will be ‘traditional,’ nor is there a perfect plan to accommodate everyone, we knew that we wanted to find a way for you all to be together one last time. Therefore, Wawasee High School will plan to hold a graduation ceremony Saturday, July 18. We recognize there will continue to be restrictions in place, even in July, and for that we acknowledge this ceremony may not be exactly as it’s been in the past.
“However, our goal is to stick to a plan that resembles a typical celebration, in which you are with your classmates one last time while allowing a restricted number of observers to celebrate alongside you. We also recognize while our goal as a state is to make it to stage five by July 4, as our Governor has planned, we simply may not be there by July 18. In order to make every attempt to have a celebration, we will plan Saturday, July 25, and Saturday, Aug. 1, as backup dates. Lastly, should there be any reason we can not hold a ceremony July 18 such as poor weather, etc., but it is possible to hold a ceremony Sunday, July 19, then we would hold the ceremony that Sunday. The same goes for the following backup dates and weekends.
“Our goal is to have a live in-person graduation ceremony, recognizing restrictions will be in place, as close to July 18 as possible. Should we not be able to hold a live in-person ceremony by Sunday, Aug. 2, then the ceremony will be cancelled. We will continue to push out more details such as cap and gown pick-up and details regarding the ceremony, but for now we wanted you to have these dates for planning purposes.
“I know I speak for the entire staff of WHS when I say we miss you and we can’t wait to celebrate with you soon.”