We had so many plans for 2020. I was looking forward to field trips, family vacations, date nights and my son’s graduation from elementary school. As the Room Mom for my son’s class, I offered to be his Classroom Mom in order to help the teachers during the school year. I also offered because I wanted to help organize the graduation.
However, the plans were different. I know I am not the only one in this boat. Many of you were looking forward to your kids graduating from kindergarten, middle school, high school, and college.
Graduation Day is a big day! If you are leaving high school you want to have your last school dance or to walk across the stage with your diploma in cap and gown. However, this year none of those experiences are going to be possible for millions of students around the world.
Thanks to technology there are hundreds of resources available to help make the celebrations memorable. While these may not be as good as an in person ceremony, at least you can help your child celebrate their special day — one that they will never forget. Especially since you all survived the 2020 pandemic! They will have great stories to tell to their kids and grandkids.
Here are a few ideas to create a special, memorable day, even in quarantine times!
Live Virtual Graduation Ceremony
Organize a live webinar event where each student is recognized while their teachers, faculty, staff and family members join in on their computers. In this format, all participants join virtually—speakers included. Commencement speeches could be delivered live or via prerecorded videos as needed.
You can use resources like secondlife.com or Zoom. There are also other websites that help you to plan everything, like the Herff Jones Virtual Graduations.
Drive-in Style Graduation Ceremony
Plan to have students and families park in the school parking lot and remain in their cars while listening to the names of each graduate being announced via their smartphones or tablets. Decorate your car with balloons, pictures of the person who is graduating, encouraging banners, etc…
You can use the app AudioFetch to stream the graduation to your friends’ smartphone. They offer different packages depending of the amount of people that will be present.
You CAN make an out of this world Virtual Graduation!
Let’s look on the bright side of this situation. You can literally have an out of this world, one-of-a-kind graduation ceremony. Customize it so that it’s an experience that no one will ever forget.
Have fun with themes. Invite a special guest speaker, divide the class into several smaller ceremonies so that everyone can have a chance to give a small speech. The sky is really the limit!
Celebrities are even providing virtual events online like the upcoming commencements on Facebook and YouTube.
I hope that you enjoy your ceremony. Regardless if your child is earning a kindergarten diploma or a Master’s Degree, they have worked hard for years and now is their moment! Celebrate!
This is a topic close to many hearts in this season. Thank you for sharing!
Yes it is! Thank you for reading! Stay safe
It’s sad they can’t have a typical graduation ceremony, but this is proof they can still celebrate!
Yes it is so sad, but thanks to technology we at least can have something! Stay safe.
Thanks for helping us remember that celebrating has not been cancelled!
Thank you Becky! yes celebrations are not cancel! Stay safe