‘WE PIVOTED WITH NO PROBLEMS’
St. Bernard's holds drive-in graduation ceremony, prayer service
When it finally came time to celebrate the 2020 graduating class at St. Bernard’s Academy in Eureka, the school on Friday was able to keep families and students at a safe distance from each other.
A day earlier, it wasn’t clear if that would be the case. Principal Paul Shanahan said that close to 400 people had originally acquired tickets to attend the private Catholic school’s in-person prayer service, even though only 40 seniors were allowed to invite their families.
But hours after Shanahan’s interview on Thursday morning — in which he cited the First Amendment protection of religious rights as reason to move forward — the school changed its format. Instead of sprawling across the field in person, families watched the celebration from their vehicles, honking their horns instead of applauding.
“I was pretty confident that through signage, communication and safety precautions, we could run an event that was as simple as shopping at Murphy’s (Markets) or picking up takeout,” Shanahan said Friday. “But the families attending really kind of swelled.”
Under the new format, students were allowed up to three vehicles to support them from the school’s football field. After a prayer service, the class and school presidents delivered speeches to their classmates (who were socially distanced on the bleachers), but the students were not handed diplomas.
Shanahan said the school’s close-knit community made it possible to change the ceremony less than a day before its scheduled start time.
“It was a pretty smooth transition for parents,” he said. “We pivoted with no problems.”
At the actual ceremony on Friday afternoon, the attendees took part in a communal prayer celebrating love in a “time of hate.”
A few teachers watched from the school building’s
roof while students delivered speeches. The event was live-streamed online.
In nearly three months since California implemented a stay-at-home order for the coronavirus pandemic, religious institutions have clashed with the policy, calling it an infringement of religious freedom laws.
The state’s latest restrictions allow for in-person worship services with attendance up to 100 people.
Churches do not have to obtain a certification to reopen for religious ceremonies.
In other parts of Humboldt County, school districts have opted for socially-distanced senior graduations. Multiple districts held drive-thru ceremonies live-streamed over the internet.
In a media session on Thursday, Sheriff William Honsal said law enforcement has worked with the local public high schools to coordinate graduation ceremony guidelines amid social-distancing rules.
When it comes to churches, the sheriff said, religious institutions are encouraged to follow social-distancing guidelines “for the health and safety of the students that are graduating, as well as the people attending that event.”