Graduation 20-21

Hello Senior Parents!


Plans for graduation are progressing and we are now ready to confirm the graduation week

schedule. The full schedule here.


Graduation 2021 Update!


We have made a few changes to the graduation schedule and planning based upon the latest

information from the DOE and CDC on what schools may do and still meet safety protocols.

 

READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY.

 

March through town Monday (June 7) 6:30 in Camden.

Tuesday (June 8) Senior Voices 6:30 at CHRHS. Rain or Shine.

Friday (June 11) Graduation, 7:00 PM. Rain or Shine.

 

A few notes on the schedule:

 

The March Through Town event is planned for the Monday of graduation week as usual. We

will send out a route map and publish in the local papers next week.

 

Senior Voices is a free event that will include elements of Senior Banquet and the Senior

Awards night. Seniors will be given four tickets for this event, not including their presence. We

will begin the evening outside with music, art, opportunities to leave a message for your

graduate on their future plans picture and casual food: there will be hor d’oeuvres available.

This will be a causal opportunity to mingle, listen to music, look at art and enjoy one another’s

company outside under a tent. Scholarship awards will be posted in the tent. We will then

move inside to the Strom to hear from a variety of seniors, the traditional parent/student

speech (always a favorite), senior awards, and the final class video.

 

Graduation will occur in one of the two ways described below. Graduation is on the 11th rain

or shine.

 

• Good Weather: We will have approximately 1000 seats available to the families of the

graduates. We will create another area for other attendees who wish to bring their own

chair to watch graduation. Graduates will be given 5 tickets each for the reserved

seating we will set up. We will redistribute unused reserve seating tickets from families

that do not need five tickets. In addition, graduates will be able to request as many

tickets as they need to allow other family and friends to sit, with their own chair, in the

un-reserved area.

• Bad Weather: If we are unable to be outside on June 11, we will hold graduation inside

in the Strom theater. If this is the circumstance, graduates will have 4 tickets for family

members. We will make every effort to redistribute unused tickets from families that

will not use all four. However, there will be limited seating, as the Strom only holds 800

attendees. We will stream the event for those who are unable to attend.

 

Tickets will be distributed at marching practice on June 7th.

 

For those of you who have questions, please see the FAQ at the end of this letter.

 

Shawn Carlson ([email protected])

 

FAQs

 

Why wasn’t the original plan to use the Strom? Until last week, if we invited families inside, we

would need to sit them in separate pods six feet apart. The Strom did not have enough seating

for this spacing. This is no longer required so we can allow guests to sit in all the seats with no

spacing.

 

Why don’t we use the Gym instead of the Strom? Ideally, we would just move graduation

inside, but we still need to use our gym for food service. We still must serve food to students

separated by 6 feet. We currently use three spaces in the school to serve lunch, the cafeteria,

the gym and the black box. We can’t break down the tables, set down the rug and all the chairs

in the gym in one day and put it all back together for the following Monday.

 

Why don’t you keep the rain date? We were struggling to be able to have enough staff

present on Sunday to set up for a rain delayed graduation outside. If that was our only option,

we would have muddled through, but being able to use the Strom allows us to set up for

graduation during the week leading up to the 11th whether it is inside or outside. It typically

requires all hands on deck for several days to set up the space for graduation. Not having to

organize volunteers on a Sunday is a major help as we try to pull off all of these events.

 

What are the Masking and Social Distancing requirements? Participants at all events that

happen outside, the March, the Senior voices social hour, and graduation will not be required

to wear masks or socially distance. If we hold graduation inside, everyone will have to be

masked, though we will allow students to remove their masks when they receive their diploma

so that families can get a nicer picture. When inside, there are no social distancing

requirements for adults and visitors as long as everyone is masked. Please note, 1/2 of the

senior voices evening will be outside, where no masks are required, while the other 1/2 will be

inside and masks will be required.

 

I realize that changing plans this late in the spring is potentially frustrating, but it is coming from

our sincere desire to provide as much of a traditional celebration as possible. The rules

changed last week and we wanted to take advantage of the flexibility the new requirements

have provided. I hope that you will understand and be as flexible as we are trying to be. Our

motto in school this year was “nimble” and we are once again making the most of the changes

that have come our way.