CHARLOTTESVILLE — Eastern Hancock High School seniors can expect to celebrate their graduation in the traditional style as the school prepares for a ceremony that will look very much like those it held before the days of COVID-19.
Eastern Hancock’s high school graduation will take place at 11 a.m. June 5 in the high school gymnasium, as it traditionally has in years before the pandemic. It’s one more sign of a return to normalcy as COVID numbers in the county remain relatively low and vaccinations become widely available even to those under age 18.
“I think we are going to have a relatively normal graduation,” Principal Adam Barton said. “We’ll try to make it feel as normal as possible.”
The ceremony will feature speeches by the class valedictorian, Nik Uhler; and salutatorian, Lainie Lawrence.
Barton said he had spoken to seniors about their wants and concerns about graduation. The high school arrived at the plan of holding graduation at half capacity and will offer each graduating student six tickets to the event they can share with family members or other guests.
“That will put us at about 50% capacity in the gym,” Barton said. “We’re hoping that if our numbers improve over the next couple weeks, we might consider opening it up to anybody, but we’re excited that we’ll have the opportunity to have parents and students at graduation in the gym.”
Eastern Hancock identified a small number of high school and middle school students who tested positive for COVID-19 in April. The students had a high number of close contacts due to their participation in extracurricular activities, and about 75 students in total had to self-quarantine.
In 2020, amid widespread social distancing, Eastern Hancock’s graduating seniors participated in a car parade in lieu of gathering en masse on their intended graduation day. High school staff also put together a video celebrating the senior class that featured speeches by the valedictorian and salutation as well as submitted segments highlighting each graduate.
The school later held a belated in-person graduation ceremony.
The other county schools are also planning to have in-person graduation events this year.
Eastern Hancock will also have a variety of other events during the last week of school to celebrate graduating seniors and others advancing in their education. A senior awards ceremony was to be held on the evening of Monday, May 16.
During their last week of school, seniors will also skip their first class period on Wednesday to eat breakfast together, followed by a walk through the high school, middle school, and elementary school in their caps and gowns that will give them an opportunity to visit with previous teachers and show off their graduation regalia to younger students.
At the elementary school, smaller graduation ceremonies will be held for preschoolers and fifth-graders on the evening of May 26. Awards for middle school students and high school students will be given out during the school day, and an eighth-grade graduation event will be held on the evening of May 25.