Morinville Community High School students will celebrate grad this June 26 – and they’ll have a special treat from town council tucked into their diplomas.
About 128 Grade 12 students at MCHS are expected to take part in a special social-distancing graduation ceremony at the school on Friday, June 26.
High schools across Alberta have cancelled, delayed or altered their grad ceremonies this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made traditional mass gatherings unsafe to hold.
The school decided to hold its grad now instead of this fall (as some schools had planned) because they didn’t know what the pandemic situation would be later this year, said principal Don Hinks in a June 24 interview.
“It’s not the traditional grad we would normally have,” he said, but it would still honour the students.
Since the province’s pandemic rules don’t allow for more than 50 people at once at an indoor gathering, Hinks said the school would hold 14 half-hour ceremonies at the school with eight grads each on Friday, with each grad allowed a handful of guests.
“We’re going to have the red carpet set up outside,” Hinks said, and a professional photographer taking free pictures.
Grads would march into the school’s gym to see a short video before walking across the stage to collect their graduation cap, diploma, and goodie-bag (which included postcards signed by staff members), Hinks said. Grads would then take photos on the school’s balcony before heading outside for ice cream and the traditional post-grad cap-toss. All 14 ceremonies would be streamed online and compiled into a video complete with speeches from valedictorian Owen Ling, trustee René Tremblay, and other dignitaries.
Gift from council
Tucked into that goodie bag was a letter that could be exchanged for a free 10-visit pass to the Morinville Leisure Centre. Morinville town council approved the free pass in a 4-2 vote (councillors Scott Richardson and Stephen Dafoe opposed, Rebecca Balanko absent) near midnight on Tuesday, June 24.
MCHS had asked council to support this year’s grad earlier this month. Mayor Barry Turner suggested council consider giving grads a free 10-pass during committee of the whole on June 16.
While he had originally proposed giving the free pass to just Morinville grads from Sturgeon Composite and MCHS, Turner expanded his motion Tuesday to include any MCHS grad.
“This year has been a challenge for not only our students but particularly our grads,” he said, as they’ve had their last days of high school with their friends stolen from them by the pandemic. Graduation is a milestone in anyone’s life, and council should step up to recognize it.
Richardson and Dafoe opposed Turner’s proposal. Richardson said many students might leave town before they could use the pass, making it a “useless thank-you,” while Dafoe said it could be perceived as vote-buying.
Council’s decision supplied free passes to 147 MCHS and Sturgeon Composite grads at a cost of $8,085 from council’s public relations budget.
Hinks thanked council for giving students a chance to try out the leisure centre and hoped it would encourage them to stay fit for life. Even if students leave town this fall, Hinks said they could always use this free pass when they come back to visit.
Hinks said he hopes council would make this gift an ongoing tradition, if they could afford it.
“Sometimes it’s not about dollars and cents. Sometimes it’s just about doing the right thing.”
