The graduation program at Carbon High School this year will be extremely different from any other year in history. But then, that falls right in line with a completely different year in education as well.

“Our graduation committee, the district office and the school administration discussed what we could and should do about graduation for six weeks, and we wanted to do something that was unique and special for our students, yet fit within the guideline set by the health department,” said Chris Winfree, the Principal of Carbon High. “Graduation will still take place on May 21, but a formal walk-across-the-stage ceremony won’t be held until some point in the summer when the state says we can. So while what we do this month will be graduation, it will not be the final formal one.”

Winfree said that they recognize that not all students will be able to attend a summer graduation date because they will have moved, gone to college, gone on church missions or left the area.

“Consequently we are doing a drive through graduation on May 21,” he said.

The unique graduation service will start at 10 a.m. with vehicles lining up at the school at 9:45 a.m. Winfree said that the cars will be spaced out by alphabetical order so that a long backup can be avoided.

“We want students to decorate their cars and have fun with it,” he stated. “They can have family members they live with in the cars and they or a family member can drive the vehicle. We are asking them to dress up in their graduation gowns, and as they drive around the school, teachers, who will be dressed in their graduation attire as well, will be spaced out and celebrating with them.”

Winfree said that there will be a lot of things that the school will give them, then once they drive around the school they will pull into special parking spaces in front of the Carbon wall and three professional photographers will be taking their photos either getting their diploma books from a school administrator, or the student can decide what they want the photo to look like.

He said the next day the school will mail out an envelope to each graduate which will contain their actual diploma, the graduation program, a DVD that will have recorded on it a senior video as well as all the speakers who were to speak at graduation including the valedictorian, salutatorian, class officers and Mayor Kourianos, who is the graduation speaker. ETV 10 will also broadcast that DVD at three different times on the day of graduation.

“We think it will be fun and certainly unique. We recognize that it will not be what the seniors grew up imagining their graduation would be like, but we have worked to make it fun and safe for everyone,” concluded Winfree.

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