The list of graduation ceremonies is here: Valley schools celebrate the Class of 2020
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Though the COVID-19 pandemic has put a damper on what should be a graduating high school senior’s most proud moment, Valley school administrators said they tried to make this season’s commencement ceremonies as memorable as possible.
Here is how some school officials described their efforts.
LAKEVIEW LOCAL SCHOOLS
As the culmination of the high school experience, commencement can be one of the most important senior-year events. And Lakeview Local Schools seniors already lost prom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s graduating seniors were celebrated differently, but with the community’s help, it was still memorable, said Lakeview Superintendent Velina Taylor.
“That was really the driving force behind everything — the fact that we really didn’t want this to go unheralded or forgotten,” she told Mahoning Matters. “We were blessed by a very supportive community.”
Cortland’s Lions Club, which coordinates year-round fundraisers during sporting events, produced and distributed congratulatory signs for the graduating Bulldogs.
“Those went a long way to helping people start to feel a little bit better,” Taylor said. “Until that point, everything had been framed in loss rather than gain. … We started to claw back what we could.”
Residents of Ohio Living Lake Vista, a skilled nursing and assisted living campus along North Mecca Street, braved the May 8 snow flurries, raising signs and cheering on Lakeview graduates as the district’s annual senior parade passed through the campus. It was the first time the parade was routed through the campus, but Taylor said she hopes it’s not the last.
The Lake Vista residents have since printed their own T-shirts reading “Seniors Supporting Seniors,” she said.
“We had such a great sense of community the entire time we were doing that,” Taylor said. “One of the big takeaways we have from this is we really need to appreciate the times we can have together because you can’t replace those things.”
The district’s seniors next week will take part in the “senior showcase,” where they’ll walk across the stage, get professional photos taken and receive various tokens and commemorations they would have normally received during other graduation-season events.
While that ceremony might have taken only hours before COVID-19, it’s expected to take at least five days, as it must be by appointment only, Taylor said.
“It’s convoluted, but it’s safe with a capital ‘S’,” she said.
BOARDMAN LOCAL SCHOOLS
In planning the district’s graduation events, Boardman superintendent Tim Saxton worked to strike a balance between special and safe.
“A lot of things have been taken from the class of 2020,” Saxton said. “What can we give to them that other classes haven’t had?”
Boardman High School’s 2020 graduation will take place June 7 in the Spartan Stadium — a first — and allow graduates’ families to accompany them as they walk to receive their diplomas — another first.
When a graduate’s name is called, their senior picture will appear on the stadium’s large screen as they process to the center of the football field, kind of like a senior night, Saxton said.
Each graduate can bring up to four guests. Boardman’s approximately 300 graduates will come in one of four hour-long shifts.
Pre-recorded speeches will be played for each group, and the ceremony will be taped. An official recording will be distributed to the graduating class.
The toughest part of making this plan has been adjusting to what each individual feels is appropriate at this time
“Everyone has a different personal comfort level, and that’s OK,” said Saxton. After convening with parents, staff and student leaders, cutting the class into smaller groups hosting the ceremony in a large outdoor space felt appropriate.
Saxton is also working with the Boardman Police Department regarding appropriate logistics for enforcing social distancing.
LORDSTOWN LOCAL SCHOOLS
Lordstown Local Schools families can watch the district’s pre-recorded ceremony during a drive-in showing on a large projection screen, starting at 9 p.m. tonight in the high school’s parking lot. The recording will then be published on the district’s website Sunday, the Class of 2020’s actual graduation date.
Lew Lowery, the district’s interim superintendent, said during last Sunday’s ceremony recording, walking seniors in caps and gowns rotated every 10 minutes, and could be joined by only up to five family members. A professional photographer was available afterward, he said.
“The biggest problem was the logistics of it to make sure you stayed safe,” Lowery said. “Yet we were able to make a memorable occasion for the students.”
The other trick was to make the recording appear natural, as if everyone were in the same room at once, taking the stage one after another. Tonight’s premiere will feature the district’s valedictorian, salutatorian and guest speeches.
The drive-in concept, of course, wasn’t planned for 2020 graduates, but parents showed interest in it, and rented a large projection screen using leftover student funding, he said.
Though Lowery has only been heading up the district for three months on an interim basis — he was formerly superintendent of Mathews Local Schools in Vienna Center — he’s come to see Lordstown educators’ commitment to students.
“I’ve learned what a great staff they have here. The way teachers come together and try to do things for their kids — it’s amazing,” he said. “People in the community should appreciate that.”
POLAND LOCAL SCHOOLS
Poland Local School District’s ceremony will also take place in the school’s stadium, but with a unique twist.
The turf and track are scheduled to be replaced the Monday after the ceremony, so cars will be permitted to drive onto the field and park to watch prerecorded speeches on a screen, like at a drive-in theater, said Poland Local Schools Superintendent David Janofa.
The Poland Rotary Club helped fund the purchase of two large screens to use for the event. The other screen will be put up in the parking lot outside the stadium, so that spillover family in separate cars can also tune in.
At the end of the ceremony, a police escort will lead graduates’ cars off the school grounds and through Poland Village. Janofa encourages people to come out to Rt. 70 at around 7:30 p.m. Saturday to cheer for the seniors.
Figuring out what kind of ceremony is permitted by the state and what works for the district was a challenge, but through communication with parents and high school staff, the district came up with a creative plan for celebrating the day.
“One of the positive outcomes of virtual learning is the amount of communication between home and school,” said Janofa.
YOUNGSTOWN CITY SCHOOLS
Youngstown City Schools’ class of 2020 did not miss out on the tradition of walking across the stage at Stambaugh Auditorium to receive their high school diplomas.
The staff at Stambaugh videotaped each graduating senior receiving their diploma from a person of their choosing. Graduates picked parents, grandparents, friends and cousins.
“We wanted to do something that would really stick to what we normally do,” said YCSD superintendent Justin Jennings. “From what I know, that’s what people look forward to. They look forward to walking across that stage.”
Typically, parents and family are instructed to hold their cheering until every name is called during the graduation ceremony, so as not to drown out the following name. But, “in this case we didn’t have to,” Jennings joked.
The tape will be available within the next week.
LIBERTY LOCAL SCHOOLS
Liberty Local Schools Superintendent Joseph Nohra said the district’s 2020 graduates “deserved” to walk across the stage of Stambaugh Auditorium during the district’s limited May 22 ceremony, but because of pandemic restrictions, the event was otherwise “simple.”
“The school community’s not just the students, parents and siblings; the school community’s the staff members, their classmates,” Nohra said. “How do you reenact an event that’s made special by people, by the school family, with just them there?
“How to make it special wasn’t simple because you really couldn’t make it special.”
Families were allowed into the auditorium one at a time to see their graduates cross the stage.
The event was recorded and broadcast on the auditorium’s YouTube channel.
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