by Marshall Newton
Due to how COVID-19 is still impacting our community, Minarets staff and administrators are making a few adjustments to how graduation would typically look.
This year, the graduation is taking place on the football stadium instead of the upper lawn. This change that would have happened with or without the effects of COVID-19 since the stadium is a new addition to the campus. It will also allow for greater social distancing since there is more space.
The school will be following California’s COVID-19 guidelines, which means that all students will be masked and kept six feet apart. Any students or officials who speak on stage will be kept twelve feet apart from everyone else due to not wearing masks while they speak into the microphone.
To limit the spread of COVID-19, the school is limiting the amount of people that can attend; there will be a max crowd of about 700 people, which is six tickets per graduating student. Families will also have their own areas separated six feet apart from other families. For anyone who is unable to attend, Minarets will continue its tradition of broadcasting the graduation on Facebook Live. There is a chance that the state may change the guidelines to be less strict in the next couple of weeks due to decreasing COVID numbers and increased vaccinations, however the school is unsure if that will happen.
Despite these changes, many traditions will remain intact. The Minarets Showband will be performing at the graduation ceremony, with a thirty minute pre-show and two ten minute shows during the graduation. Brett Moglia, the Minarets music director, has also said that part of the graduation will also be a tribute to the previous senior class who was unable to have a ceremony due to the COVID-19 shut downs.
On top of this, the iconic entrance for the graduates riding in mustangs will still be taking place along with walking the red carpet. Patrick Wilson, the Minarets Director of Charter, explained “Having the graduates come in on a Mustang is a Minarets tradition like no other. It is unique to our ceremony and the parents and the students love it." He also said there will be a few surprises for the seniors during the graduation, but didn’t want to mention them just yet.
Without a doubt, this will be a graduation unlike any other. While there are some changes, the staff and administrators are excited that the students, their families, and the community will be able to celebrate the graduation of the Class of 2021 with an in-person event.