The typical excitements that come with senior year were shrouded with uncertainty for the class of 2021 after watching their predecessors graduate through computer screens at the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Ceremonies that were postponed when the Ohio Department of Education told schools to cancel in-person graduations ended up being canceled anyway or went virtual.
For months, it was unclear whether events like prom, senior award assemblies or graduation ceremonies could happen a year later.
But on March 2, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine lifted a 300-person capacity limit for banquet halls and catering facilities and gave the OK for schools to plan proms and graduations. More recently, the governor’s office released a detailed set of guidelines for both prom and graduation, including the use of masks, social distancing between groups of no more than 10 and using touchless ticketing.
Cue “Pomp and Circumstance” – with hesitation and adaptation.
More: Ohio COVID-19 health order allows dancing at proms, weddings
Instead of delivering diplomas and swag bags to graduates' homes as some schools did in 2020, schools this year will host some actual graduation ceremonies – by dividing up the graduating seniors into smaller groups and disinfecting the venue in between condensed ceremonies, for example. The goal: give students something more normal and satisfying than what occurred last year, even though traditional events remain impossible due to COVID-19.
Springboro High School graduation plans were still “up in the air” in early April, district communications coordinator Scott Marshall told The Enquirer. It isn't the only local school district suddenly rushing to set dates and secure venues. There are also questions about guests and capacity limits as schools work to abide by proper social distancing guidelines.
DeWine's announcement may have posed challenges for school administrators, but it also sparked newfound hope for some students and families.
"Now I have so much to think about and get ready for, and I’m just very excited for the next two months," Seton High School senior Paige Schultz told The Enquirer the week her school announced end-of-the-year events for its senior class, including prom. Local dress shops welcomed a rush of students who booked specialty stores like Kostovos Bridal Furs & Prom in Montgomery out for weeks.
More: 'A rite of passage': Cincinnati-area schools plan for proms with COVID-19 precautions
Other seniors are just ready to move on. Justin Katona, a senior at Lakota East, is committed to Wittenberg University in Springfield to play lacrosse next school year. Quarantines and pandemic-related cancelations affected his last season of high school lacrosse, and the senior parade and car show he looked forward to likely won't happen, either, he said.
"I'm ready to graduate because I don't know, I'm just excited to go to Wittenberg," Justin said. "Especially with the athletics there, starting a different chapter with a college-level sport. So I'm excited about that."
Cintas Center books up for spring graduations
William Mason High School seniors have always graduated together at Xavier University's Cintas Center – that is, until last year, when students celebrated virtually, says district spokesperson Tracey Carson. The Cintas Center shut down from mid-April through late summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, not even hosting an in-person commencement for Xavier's 2020 graduates.
More: UC, NKU, Miami, Thomas More, Xavier to hold on-campus spring commencement ceremonies in 2021
Though the Cintas Center is back up and running this graduation season, Carson says not all 840 graduating seniors and their families can fit inside the arena while maintaining proper social distancing. They would have to split the class into two ceremonies.
So, for the first time ever, Ohio's largest non-virtual public school will host its graduation ceremony out on the football field.
"I was looking forward to going to Cintas like everyone does every year," Olivia Wise, Mason's National Honor Society president, said. But when the school sent out a survey to seniors and she saw the football field option, she was more excited about the idea of graduating at her school. "I think it's just really fun that we're the first class to ever do it."
Other schools are turning to off-campus sites. Doug Ruschman, associate vice president for marketing and communications for Xavier University, said there are 22 high schools confirmed to host 31 ceremonies at the Cintas Center in May and June. Kings High School is planning a May 16 ceremony with six tickets per graduate at the Cintas Center, though community relations coordinator Dawn Gould said "these are very fluid plans." Milford High School booked the arena for May 22.
Princeton High School has reserved Fifth Third Arena at the University of Cincinnati for Sunday, May 16 – but district spokesperson Tricia Roddy says plans are tentative.
“Our high school administration is working with the staff at Fifth Third Arena to ensure we can follow their guidelines, along with state mandates,” Roddy said.
At Middletown High School, communications specialist Elizabeth Beadle says the class of 2021 will graduate in one session at their Barnitz Stadium, with social distancing and masks.
Cincinnati Public Schools will hold in-person graduations this year, communications officer Frances Russ said. Most CPS ceremonies will be held at Fifth Third Arena, and the School for Creative and Performing Arts will graduate at Music Hall.
Across the river in Kentucky, superintendent of Newport Schools Tony Watts says the district decided to host a formal dinner instead of prom because "we just didn't see how we could social distance while you're dancing." The district will host an in-person graduation in three waves at the high school gym, he said, and record each session so they can put together a video with all 70 graduates.
"They have some other things lined up at the high school for them (during senior week)," Watts said. "So it's not a total loss like last year."
Getting creative to show a 'little bit of extra love'
Lindsey Sharp, of West Chester Township, is helping families celebrate milestones of all kinds in a new pandemic-friendly way. Her yard sign business, Hip Hip Hooray – Cincinnati, is modeled after its sister company in Carmel, Indiana. The Cincinnati business opened in February.
Sharp, her husband Nick and their three children, Mackenzie, Drew and Kailee, set up festive yard signs for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, baby announcements and now graduations. Customers can ask for any sort of message and the Sharps will set it up on the requested date.
Graduation requests just started to come in at the beginning of April, Sharp said. She thinks the signs, no matter the message or occasion, tell people: "Hey, we are thinking about you and we wish we could be there" or "We wish we could have this big gathering."
"If I think back to when I graduated high school and the big party, I mean, it was such a big event in our lives," Sharp said. "It's not the same right now. So I think people are just trying to give these kids a little bit of normalcy, or a little bit of extra love or support or to show them that, you know, times are strange right now, but we're still celebrating you, we still want to celebrate you, we're still so proud of you."
Justin's parents will attend his Lakota East graduation this spring at the Cintas Center. He doesn't have enough invites for his three siblings or grandparents to go, as they did for his older brother's graduation in 2018. But Justin's mother, Kristina Kotona, says they always planned to host a graduation party to celebrate Justin after this strange final year of high school.
"We just have gone into a different mindset," she said. "I will be disappointed if his grandparents and his aunt and his brothers and sisters can't come to graduation. But we've found through, like, Facebook Live and that type of thing that, you know, we can still let them participate without them being there."
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