SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The coronavirus pandemic has left high school seniors without a traditional graduation ceremony. But seniors at Springdale Public Schools will still have a chance to celebrate in front of their friends and family, it might just look different than years past.
Senior year of high school is something students look forward to for years. There's prom, sports seasons, banquets which all lead up to graduation. But this year, the coronavirus pandemic has stripped that away from the class of 2020.
“Sometimes this is just how it works and it’s not able to be what we all expected,” said Nick Luttrell.
Nick Luttrell is one of about 1500 seniors in the Springdale school district who will be hearing pomp and circumstance through a computer screen.
“Some of my friends are kinda like ah graduation it’s just walking across the stage but for me, it’s a little bit more important than for some other people,” said Luttrell.
However, Springdale Public Schools have come up with a plan to ensure that the class of 2020 is celebrated on their special day.
“Our team got together and decided what can we do to help our seniors know they are special, we value them, that we appreciate their work they’ve done. And so we came up with the graduation special” said Trent Jones, Director of Media, Springdale Schools Communications Department.
The virtual graduation special will celebrate each senior in a way that's never been done before.
This one of a kind graduation allows families the opportunity to view the celebration together on all district social media outlets.
“We will make sure each person's name is read and we will do our very best to help our kids know they are important members of our school system and now they are about to become important members in our community,” said Lutrell.
Lutrell is attending Syracuse University in the fall and says the past 3 years at Har ber have been some of the best years of his life and he's looking forward to the May 30th virtual graduation.
“There are so many awesome things about Har-ber. It doesn’t have to end badly. We can still look at the positives.”
The district says all hope is not lost for in-person graduation. The district will make its decision later on throughout the summer based on recommendations from the governor.