DISTRICT OKS IN-PERSON GRADUATION CEREMONIES
Outdoor high school graduations planned with limited capacity
Graduation season is finally upon us. In under a month, Woodland Joint Unified School District campuses will be holding in-person graduation ceremonies, restoring some sense of normalcy.
While last year’s creative drive-through celebrations at Pioneer and Woodland High School were a total success, current guidelines along with positively trending case numbers will allow the district to have some normal end of the year celebrations.
During a Woodland School Board meeting Thursday night,
administrators showed trustees what graduation and promotion ceremonies would look like next month.
As is normally the case, all graduation ceremonies will be outdoors, according to the district’s Director of College & Career Readiness Jacob Holt.
Kicking off the week-long festivities will be Woodland Adult Education, who will hold their ceremony on Wednesday, June 9, at 6 p.m. at Pioneer High School.
Douglass and Lee Middle School’s ceremonies will both occur on Thursday, June 10. Douglass will have its ceremony at 3 p.m. at Pioneer High School, while Lee will have its the same
day, starting at 6 p.m. at Woodland High School.
Cache Creek High School will hold their graduation on Friday, June 11, at 1 p.m. at Pioneer’s campus.
Pioneer will have its own ceremony on campus on June 11 as well, starting at 6 p.m. Woodland High School will have its traditional Saturday morning graduation once again on June 12, starting at 9 a.m. in its new stadium.
To see what capacity each school will be allowed to fill, the district will go by the guidance set by the California Department of Public Health.
If Yolo County is in the orange tier, roughly 33% of the stadium’s capacity will be allowed. If still in orange, each student will get two tickets for family members. Woodland and Pioneer High students will each get three tickets. If in the yellow tier, the district will extend the capacity to 67%, and each student could be in line for four tickets for friends or family.
“If we move into the yellow tier, we can expand the number of people that can attend,” Holt explained. “But only if as a county we are in the yellow tier.”
All ceremonies will be live-streamed and recorded to be viewed at a later time for those who can’t attend.
According to principals at both Woodland High and
Pioneer, a stage, program, and the proper sound systems are set and ready to go.
“We are ready to roll at this point,” said Pioneer High Principal Sandra Reese. “We have singers and speech givers. So we anticipate a graduation that kids will be able to remember and appreciate for years to come.”
Face coverings for everyone will be the expectation. If a family member does not have a ticket and is not on the list, they will not be allowed to the ceremony as the district confirmed they will be diligently confirming who all will be at each event.
For sixth graders moving onto middle school, site principals are working
within the framework of the guidelines to try and hold something for them.
Any ceremony must be outdoors, with one classroom participating at a time. Only two guests will be allowed per student, while social distancing and masks will still be required. All guests who attend will be required to leave immediately.
“We are entering into celebration time,” Holt said. “It’s a very different time than we experienced last year. I don’t know if everyone else feels this way, but I feel a lot less stressed. Last year was a very uncertain and stressful time, and now I feel we have a greater time for celebration. We are looking forward to the upcoming weeks.”