St. Ignatius High School Class of 2020 valedictorian Lily Sutton stands in the school football field before delivering her graduation speech.Courtesy of St. Ignatius High School/Supplied
On Wednesday evening next week, Lily Sutton will be shown walking across a makeshift stage built atop a field at her school in Thunder Bay and she will be wearing a cap and gown when she reaches out for the piece of paper she’s been anticipating for years.
She knows exactly what will happen, because it has already happened.
The Class of 2020 at St. Ignatius High School has pretaped a graduation ceremony that will be streamed back into their homes. Ms. Sutton and her fellow graduates will celebrate with their families, while texting friends and classmates.
“There’s times it feels unfair,” said Ms. Sutton, also the class valedictorian. When she walked across the stage, it was her mother who handed her the piece of paper with a special message, which represented her diploma. But she said that a sendoff, no matter the shape, is better than nothing at all.
The coronavirus pandemic has scuttled traditional high school rites of passage across Canada, from commencement ceremonies to proms. It has forced schools to be creative – from holding drive-in ceremonies in Nova Scotia, to virtual proms in other parts of the country, and even allowing the graduating class to enter school buildings one last time to sign yearbooks and take graduation photos.
In Ontario, the province’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce asked school boards to postpone ceremonies until the fall. However, many across the country have forged ahead with virtual commencements and proms, unsure of how a second wave of the virus could affect plans and even if graduating classes would be able to reunite months later.
“Graduation is a pretty big part of our high school. I guess it is of most high schools, and our hearts just went out to this year’s class,” said St. Ignatius principal, Michael Filipetti. “We don’t want this school year to end without something to signify this milestone.”
Still, even school officials acknowledge that it is muted compared with previous years. Mr. Filipetti choked up when describing what his school had planned when the reality of the pandemic became clear. The graduating students picked up their caps and gowns with instructions to either tape themselves at home or schedule a time to come to the field by the school where they would be filmed on the makeshift stage.
High school grads reinvent traditions and find new ways to mark their 2020 milestones
Mr. Filipetti’s daughter is among this year’s graduates. “I’m excited to get to give her a diploma. She’s the only one I’ll get to give a diploma to this year,” he said. (His school is still open to the possibility of an in-person commencement if it is permitted in the fall.)
Cameron Tyance, one of the St. Ignatius grads, said he “felt amazing to be on stage” and graduate. Mr. Tyance, who is a member of Gull Bay First Nation, performed on the stage wearing bright colours and lots of ribbon to resemble Indigenous warriors when they dance. Part of his performance will be featured in the opening of the commencement ceremony.
Cameron Tyance, a member of Gull Bay First Nation, celebrated his graduation from his Thunder Bay high school by dancing on stage in bright colours resembling Indigenous warriors.
“I feel like I’m accomplishing something, and actually proving that students from everywhere and anywhere can do what they want if they put enough hard work into it,” said Mr. Tyance, describing his years of schooling as he moves on to study civil engineering at Confederation College in Thunder Bay.
Catherine Birch, principal at Shaftesbury High School in Winnipeg, described the graduation milestone as a time when the “world opens up” to teenagers, whether they are entering the work force or starting postsecondary studies. “For the first time,” she said, “they are arriving at a threshold where they truly hold choices. It’s that whole idea of entering into adulthood.”
Her school has planned a virtual convocation at the end of the month, along with diploma-presentation ceremonies that will take place over three days with smaller audiences that adhere to physical-distancing guidelines. There’s a formal gathering planned for the fall, but Ms. Birch said the school wanted to do something that captured the graduating students’ excitement now.
“Once the summer months have come and gone, and they’ve engaged in their postsecondary or whatever the next steps they are choosing, they won’t feel the same,” she added.
Last week in Oakville, Ont., Disha Manek wore a sweatshirt from McMaster University, the school she’ll attend in the fall, and black high heels to the Halton District School Board’s virtual prom. The theme was hoodies and high heels – and Ms. Manek was eager to be a part of it.
She watched the prom from her living room, texting and on Facetime with a group of friends as they saw their pictures or shout-outs flash on the screen. It’s not the same as the in-person event she had been hoping for, but it would suffice during a pandemic, she said.
“It is the epitome of high school. Prom is that one night when you can be with everyone in your grade, you can dress up,” said Ms. Manek, who attends Garth Webb Secondary School in Oakville.
The school district organized the virtual prom after surveying its students. (In-person ceremonies would be planned for the fall if the board receives the green light from public health.) Some wore their prom dresses; others had small backyard gatherings to watch and celebrate.
“While parents and grandparents are excited about commencement, a lot of students really look forward to the rite of passage being a prom,” said Jacqueline Newton, a superintendent of education at the Halton board.
They looked forward to the occasion so much that when educators in Halton recently invited students into schools to pick up their belongings, one young girl arrived in her prom dress.
Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.