Othello graduates receive their diplomas in unorthodox ceremony
Emry Dinman/Columbia Basin Herald Hoping to keep the crush of students and cars moving and in sync, district staff helped point out where students needed to walk to receive their diploma.
Emry Dinman/Columbia Basin Herald After placing a lei around his neck, a mom and her newly graduated son hug Friday at Othello High School's graduation ceremony.
Emry Dinman/Columbia Basin Herald Wreathed by balloons, taking her mask off just long enough to get her photo taken, a newly graduated student holds up her diploma.
OTHELLO — About 250 Othello High School graduates drove along the school’s football field Friday to receive their diplomas in a socially distant ceremony, the most recent change to traditional activities caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Guided onto the track by sheriff’s deputies, newly graduated students and their families drove two by two to separate stations wreathed in balloons, where their names were called, their pictures were taken, and they waved to teachers for the last time before they drove away to the next chapter of their lives.
It was the capstone to a strange school year interrupted in March by the pandemic. Grad Jayden Brown, who is going to Central Washington University next year, was among the first students to be handed her diploma. She and her parents, Shanise and Steve, reflected on the atypical year as they waited for their turn at the podium.
“It was good but crazy,” Jayden said, laughing.
“We’re just trying to make the best out of it,” Shanise added.
Students were funneled onto campus 15 at a time, in order to prevent backups and traffic jams, said high school Principal Alejandro Vergara. Vergara said that when planning for the unorthodox ceremony started, back in late April, everyone had hoped that having a later graduation than other schools would give them a chance to host a traditional ceremony.
“So we waited and waited to see if you would be allowed to have some kind of regular, traditional grad ceremony, even if it was in small groups,” Vergara said. “That’s why we waited until the middle of July to have the ceremony, hoping that we would be at a phase to allow some sort of traditional ceremony, but of course that wasn’t possible.”
The district began looking at how other schools had handled drive-up graduations and tried to find a way to sort through around 250 students without taking the entire day, he said. The senior activities committee, composed of teachers, parents, staff, local and county law enforcement and students, came together to organize the event.
“It was a whole community effort,” Vergara said. “Again, there was no script; we just hoped that it would work out as well as it could under the circumstances, and we were pleased with the result and the attendance.”
Vergara, who will be leaving his position before the start of the next school year to pursue other opportunities, became the high school’s principal four years ago. He said he watched Friday’s graduates grow from the time they were freshmen and was glad to see them one more time.
“It was certainly a good feeling; we got to see their faces light up, got to see them excited about graduation but also their next steps in life,” Vergara said. “I’m proud of the community of Othello, and I’m proud of the leadership of the Othello School District for making this happen.”
