By Emmy Ribero
Class of 2021 has missed out on practically all of their senior year and were expecting nothing else for the rest of it until last Friday, when the school board announced officially that they would be able to graduate at Merriweather. River Hill’s graduation will take place on June 4th, at 3pm. The event is expected to be socially distanced and all guests will be viewing the ceremony from the lawn space, as opposed to the pavilion, where students will be socially distanced. Additionally, to adhere to coronavirus standards, there will be 2 guest tickets per student.
This announcement came soon after when the board officially announced that there will be no proms because indoor spaces can’t be socially distanced properly. This is upsetting to many seniors, especially because they missed both junior and senior year proms. But, having a graduation ceremony was one of the most important parts of senior year, so at the very least they will be able to graduate with the rest of their classmates. “I am really grateful that we are able to graduate in person this year. I want to see everyone before we all go off to college. This feels like the page for a new chapter, and I am glad we are able to graduate together, I am really going to miss everyone.” Says Diana Warner, a graduating senior.
Many parents of seniors were very angry with the board at the graduation ceremony. They were upset about how the board waited until Mid-April to finalize the dates because it was delaying future graduation and summer plans. They had priorly released a 3-week window that the graduation ceremony could take place between, forcing the families to block off almost the entire month of June. One of the parents of students in the county expresses their frustration. “My frustration is that there was a delay in getting notification about what the date would be and only to find out that we are all going to be sitting on the lawn, effectively watching graduation on the Jumbotron.”
There is also controversy surrounding the two-guest-ticket-per-student rule. This is causing students with siblings and/or divorced parents with new spouses a lot of trouble. Additionally, students with other family members than the two who can come will see a live stream of the graduation ceremony online, similar to how it was done in the past. The format that they will do this is currently to be determined. However, with regulations on coronavirus regulations becoming more lenient, Dr. Martino hopes to provide students with more tickets. “As more vaccines are distributed and with the hope for declining county positivity rates, [we] will continue working with the health department to consider possibilities for issuing additional tickets and other seating arrangements,” according to the Baltimore Sun.
No matter what the details of in-person graduation work out to be, seniors will be getting to graduate with the rest of their class. This is something that the class of 2021 has been looking towards for forever. It is going to be a memorable experience for them and graduating will be something they can hold onto for years to come.