This school year has not been easy for any of us given the challenges of our senior year and to add on, the complications the pandemic brings on. The current Grade 12s have not been able to experience any graduation activities that we have been looking forward to since grade 9, such as graduation photos (for some schools) and prom. As if our senior year has not been made any worse, the news that our graduation ceremony will be a prerecorded video is extremely disappointing. 

As students, we feel incredibly insignificant that all our efforts these past couple of years have been reduced down to a video that we will have to watch on the school website or social media pages. We understand that this may seem like the most plausible option given the pandemic and its restrictions but we demand more. 

What the Class of 2021 is asking for is that if lockdown is lifted by the end of June (typically when graduation is), we want to be allowed to have an outdoor graduation. The concept of an outdoor graduation that is COVID-safe is entirely doable and can all be left at the discretion of Public Health agencies and school boards. 

The following is an example of what a school could implement for an outdoor graduation:

• On a school field, each graduate will be six feet apart and can be seated on their own portable furniture such as a lawn chair.
• Everyone will be wearing a mask and if necessary, other Personal Protective Equipment such as a face shield.
• To avoid any contact, upon their name being called, graduates can stand up in their designated spot and turn their tassel instead of being called up to the front.
• The ceremony can be live-streamed for families and other staff members to watch from the comfort of their homes. This way the event will only have a limited amount of attendees. 

The Class of 2021 has spent the entirety of our senior year and almost half of our Grade 11 in a pandemic. We have not been able to live out our senior year the way we have all envisioned and our graduation is an important milestone in all our lives. We have been looking forward to this moment for as long as we can remember, so we hope you understand why we are demanding a better experience.