Campbell’s Class of 2020 hoping for alternative grad solution

Members of the graduating class of 2020 spent four years with the same big dreams of graduation and prom only to see their senior year cut short due to COVID-19.

Now some are hoping to save grad with alternative options.

Standing outside Campbell Collegiate on a windy day in May, Karsyn Rutledge says it’s strange to think of what could have been. She had always pictured seniors’ spirit days, spending time with her friends and saying goodbye to her teachers.

Spending her final weeks of senior year locked out of an empty high school and away from her friends was definitely not what she pictured, but having grad cancelled was a breaking point.

“I was heartbroken. I started to cry, if I’m being honest, because (the school) kind of just said, ‘(Grad) is not being postponed. It’s not being altered. It’s just being cancelled,’ and that’s all they said,” Rutledge said.

After discussing the situation on the Campbell graduating class group chat, Rutledge could tell many seniors felt the same way about missing out on the experience of a graduation ceremony and the chance to celebrate with the fancy prom dresses left hanging in closets.

So Rutledge started up an online petition on Change.org, asking Regina Public Schools and the high school itself to find an alternative solution for a socially distanced graduation.

“Of course it’s important for everyone to stay safe, but I believe that our graduation shouldn’t be stripped fully because of what’s going on and I believe there are many ways that we can choose other options to have a graduation,” Rutledge said.

Rutledge and her friends are not expecting any large gathering in the weeks ahead; she suggested it might be possible to wait for a few months.

The first idea is to get permission to hold a ceremony at a football stadium where there would be plenty of space for graduates to maintain a two-metre distance and families could spread out in the stands in the same way.

Virtual grads would be another option, or even a drive-in-style ceremony where families could stay in their vehicles until it was the students’ chance to walk across a stage and pick up their diplomas.

Rutledge admits not everyone is a fan of those ideas and she knows it is a personal preference about whether a graduation ceremony would even be worth it.

For her part, she just wants a chance to have some memory of graduating high school. She hopes there’s a chance to have some kind of different solution, not only for Campbell Collegiate, but for every high school.

Rutledge’s fellow Grade 12 student, Kianna Coghill, said it feels weird and sad to look at the empty high school.

She never thought she would miss going to school every day, but spending the past two months at home has made her miss seeing all of her classmates.

“Our graduation year is just never really going to be complete. It just ended on a random day and to never go back (and) to never see anyone again — especially when people are moving away and (students are leaving behind) teachers — we’ll probably never see these people again,” Coghill said.

Kianna Coghill (left) and her friend Sydney Edwards met up to take photos in their grad dresses. (Bella Petrovitch/ Submitted)

For Coghill, one bright spot was taking grad pictures with her best friend in their dresses. Coghill had ordered hers in Calgary and got it sent by mail, but wasn’t able to get it altered to fit properly.

“It’s kind of weird just seeing it sit in my closet and not knowing if I’m going to be able to wear it again or not,” Coghill said.

Coghill understands the petition for a grad at Campbell is kind of controversial.

“Obviously we don’t want to harm anyone, we don’t want to put anyone in danger, but (it’s good) maybe just to open up the idea of doing something else,” Coghill said. “Maybe revising (grad) to see if there is anything (the school) could give us is a good idea.”

Coghill agrees the petition is a good idea to send the message that graduation is really important to many students.

“We have to realize that we’re not going to have everything. (COVID) is serious and people are dying and it’s really sad, but also for us this is a milestone and it’s really sad that we’ll have to miss it,” Coghill said.

Whether or not the students get to celebrate the milestone of high school graduation in a socially distant or virtual way, Coghill is sure they will have a story to tell their children.

“Whether we get to have anything special, it’s going to be a day that we remember and certainly a year,” she said.

Division says plans for online celebrations may be in the works

Regina Public Schools sent out an emailed response to the petition to reinstate grad at Campbell. The division said the decision to not have any in-person Grade 12 graduations was not made lightly but it was in line with the public health orders against gatherings set out by the province.

“Regina Public Schools is very proud to see its students, including the young woman who has initiated a petition that you reference, demonstrate the courage of their convictions and speak out for what they believe in,” RPS communications supervisor Terry Lazarou wrote in an email.

On behalf of the school division, Lazarou explained individual schools are determining different ways to celebrate graduation and award recognition. More information on those plans will be shared by the schools in the coming weeks.

The options may include online celebrations, speeches and innovative activities devised by staff and students.

“Grads are indeed important, but so is protecting the health of our students, staff, their families as well as the health of our neighbours in Regina and throughout Saskatchewan during an ongoing global pandemic,” Lazarou wrote.