Graduates get to finish line

Scott Swanson

If good things do indeed come in small packages, that may be the best way to describe the two days of graduation ceremonies held Thursday and Friday, June 4 and 5, at Sweet Home High School.

In 23 separate 30-minute sessions – 12 on Thursday and 11 on Friday, 155 high school seniors graduated, in groups of seven, most with the allotted two guests present, to hear words of wisdom from school administrators, and when their group included one of the six valedictorians, and salutatorian, a word from a classmate.

They sat at intervals of 6 feet, with the parents and guests behind them, heard their names called as they paraded across a small stage set up in the Main Gym, turned their tassels and threw their caps. And celebrated.

Then, in a master stroke of planning and community good will, graduates were paraded through town in a procession of vehicles Friday evening, which ran from the Junior High to Long Street and west to Oak Heights School, before returning to the high school.

The week also included a Senior Sports Awards presentation on Monday evening, June 1, and a Baccalaureate Service on Wednesday evening.

“It was unique,” said Principal Ralph Brown, who is in his 27th year as an educator. “I have no idea how many graduations I’ve been to, but I’ve just been to 23 in the last couple of days.”

“We planned,” said Steve Thorpe, a math teacher and wrestling coach, who headed the event, and whose back patio served as the production center for those virtual events.

“Planning was imperative. We left no stone unturned. We put together a plan and that plan got executed. We made sure everything was taken care of.”

The effort included 12 hours of shepherding graduates through the process by assistant principals Chris Hiassen and Nate Tyler, and staff member Michelle Knight, and teachers Tomas Rosa and Dan Tow, he noted.

The goal, he said, was to come up with something special for a class that missed out on regular spring highlights such as May Week, spring sports and the SAFE Party.

“Make no mistake,” said Thorpe, whose own son was one of the graduates. “These kids would have rather have had everything they missed.

He said things went “awesome.” The graduates “followed along” and “everybody had their job and they did it.”

The ceremonies were “intimate,” he said. “Every single one was new. You were with seven kids and every single one of them was a new graduate. It was treated and celebrated that way.”

Thorpe told students in each session that they were an “incredibly special, incredibly unique” group.

“As a class, you’re the first, and I hope you’re the last, graduates to graduate the way we’re graduating today,” he said, adding that he was “sincerely grateful” to be able to celebrate that way.

“This hasn’t been easy, and there’s been disappointment,” he said. “Today might not be what you had planned, but a lot of times, the way things work out are not quite what we had planned. But they’re still great.”

Brown told graduates they live in “a very special place.”

“I’ve only been here five years and I feel very blessed, very humbled to live in the community we live in,” Brown said. “The community has surrounded you guys.”

He said local residents, including some who do not even have children at the high school, contacted him to see how they could contribute.

“People kept coming up with ideas and funding and all kinds of stuff. Things kept developing, little gifts for you, little things. It’s been incredible. It’s been a really, really great thing to see.”

Brown noted that he didn’t prepare his speech, so he varied it according to who was in the audience.

Graduates had a little surprise for Brown as part of the program, he said. As each one mounted the stage to receive a diploma, they handed the principal a green and yellow face mask.

“When I first saw the masks, thought it was just one of the parting gifts for the kids – school colors, COVID-19, that sort of thing,” Brown said. “It was a prank.”

Acknowledging that although he doesn’t want to repeat the pandemic experience, Brown told the graduates he actually liked speaking to the the small audience, because “it’s much more personal.”

He reminded graduates that he likes to hang out in the halls at the school and chat with students: “Hey, what’s going on? Is that new hair? Is that a new color?”

“You’ve been here with me four years,” Brown said. “This spring I wasn’t able to do that. I’d walk the hallways and kind of say those things, but I had to look around to make sure no one was there because I was talking to myself. I really missed you guys this spring. I’m very excited to be here.”

He told students he was looking forward to seeing them in future years, when he is “probably a lot grayer, a bit bigger.”

“I guarantee you if you have hot Cheetos or some other food I like, I’ll ask if I can have a bit or I’ll just reach into the bag and start eating. Because that’s who I am and you guys know that’s who I am.

“I’m very grateful to be here with you – very proud of you.”

He and Thorpe said they were able to maintain the freshness in each session because each group was “unique.”

“Every one was special,” Brown said. “When you have six or seven kids, you look out at those kids versus normal graduation, where you have 150 kids sitting there. In a big crowd, everybody melds into the crowd. I found this a lot more personal; I got a chance to actually visit with the kids.

“It fit my style.”

Supt. Tom Yahraes made a seat-of-the-pants appearance at one Friday session, delivering five points of advice to those graduates.

– “Make memories of experiences that really stand out” from their high school experience.

– Give back: “Take every opportunity to pick people up instead of putting them down. Show gratitude and grace whenever possible Graduation is about you, but there has been a host of people helping you get here. So as you move forward, remember the lessons of service to others, service to the community.”

Yahraes added that the definition of human success is not getting, but giving.

– Embrace conflict: “Remember through every conflict, frustration, seemingly impossible, disillusioning situation – it will pass, you will persevere. And if you pay attention and reflect, you will learn and be stronger.

“Class of 2020, you have been through one of the most extraordinary years in public education, as well as for our country. Your class took on the coronavirus. Your last day of in-class instruction was March 13. You had no heads-up. It just ended. You participated in distance education to complete your schooling: education through packets or online Google classes, Zoom meetings. You did it. You kicked COVID-19’s rear. You embraced conflict. You showed perseverance like no other class.”

– Be courageous; learn and grow and experience! Transitions from comfort zones are normal, not to be feared. You can pretend you are all tough, confident and ready to go. Come on, you’ve got some anxiousness, anxiety – heck, some of you might be scared. Heck, some of your parents are. But as parents and adults, we know these emotions are normal; we’ve felt them.

“And these emotions are good. Why? You are living!

“The key is, keep putting yourself in a position of opportunity which opens more doors.”

– In conclusion: “We love you. Remember to call, be safe, floss and wear sunscreen. Be nice and listen to your mother.”

The processional on Friday evening, in particular, elicited a lot of positive reactions, despite some residents who found themselves having difficulty getting into their driveways as the nearly hour-long parade rolled through.

Parent Bethanie Young, whose daughter was among the graduates, said she appreciated the whole production.

“I thought they really did a good job,” she said. “My daughter did too. You could really tell that the teachers and the principal and the school district put in a lot of thinking about what was important to the graduates.

“I think they really took it into consideration that their world completely change. There were a lot of last things they didn’t get to participate in and I think (organizers) found ways to do that.”

Thorpe and Brown said the feedback they’ve received has been exclusively positive.

“The outpouring from the community for the kids has been incredible to witness,” Brown said. “It’s been really great.”

Thorpe said he’s gotten a lot of “incredibly positive” comments, “nothing but thank-you’s and congratulations.

“Some people are still wondering how in the world did this just happen,” he said. “Everybody says we should keep doing that. I keep telling people, ‘You bet. That’s exactly what we have to do if we have to graduate in another pandemic.”

“I want graduation to be better than the year before, every single year. But what made this year such a drive and a challenge to be better was this class lost everything, man.” They lost everything.”

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