The preference of parents, guardians and Sequim’s Class of 2020 is to hold a traditional graduation ceremony in the summer, Sequim High School Principal Shawn Langston said.
Langston met online with families and Sequim School Superintendent Rob Clark to explore options for the potential graduation, tentatively scheduled for June 5, with group gatherings on hold due to state guidelines for the 2019 novel coronavirus.
If Gov. Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order remains in place, other possible options for graduates include a parade inside cars, and/or an online graduation ceremony.
“We’re still talking,” Langston said in a phone interview. “No decision has been made.”
He said any decisions on graduation won’t be made until late May at the earliest.
However, Sequim schools superintendent Rob Clark said at an April 27 board meeting that the June 5 graduation will not happen.
“At Senior Parent Night we talked about doing something symbolically (that day),” Clark told board directors this week
Clark and senior parents are “dragging their feet” on scheduling the next meeting as they wait on what restrictions Gov. Inslee may ease in coming days and weeks.
Erin Dwyer, ASB senior class president, said student leadership are “aiming for administration to hold an in-person graduation in as traditional fashion as possible.”
Safe and Sober party
Bobbi Stringer, parent president of the Class of 2020’s Safe and Sober Party, said no decision has been made if the party will still happen, but that parents “would love to have some kind of celebration for them.”
However, because the coronavirus is limiting so many people financially, she said, fundraising has come to a halt.
A golf tournament at Cedars at Dungeness was cancelled, as has the annual flamingo flocking that sees students place flamingos on residents’ lawns and at businesses as a fundraiser.
Community letters went in the mail in January to past supporters, but Stringer said her heart goes out to local businesses because “we know a lot of them are really struggling.”
At the same point in time, I want to make our (SHS) seniors know we have every interest to celebrate their successes,” she said. “There are many seniors who are hurting.”
Stringer said the senior parent group’s goal is for each student to receive something, and they’re about one-third of the way there.
Contributions can be mailed to: Sequim Graduation, Party P.O. Box 4, Carlsborg WA, 98324.
Stringer can be reached at 360-477-5942 and gradpartyshs@gmail.com
The group is also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SequimSeniorPartyPlanning.
Yearbooks
Sales remain ongoing for 2019-2020 Sequim High yearbooks students and families at the school’s webpage shs.sequimschools.org.
They can also mail a check made out to “Sequim High School” to Sequim High School, 601 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim, WA 98382. Cost is $60.
Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
