Hononegah Community High School delivers unusual graduation ceremony

JEAN SEEGERS PHOTO The Herald
Hononegah Community High School held a back-up graduation ceremony at the school on Saturday, May 23, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Superintendent Mike Dugan handed parents of graduating student their diploma cases as the graduates entered through an alternate door to receive their diplomas.

By Jean Seegers

Reporter

A generation from now, graduates of the Hononegah Community High School class of 2020 will be telling the story of their unusual graduation in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

With the necessity and complications of social distancing, officials at HCHS did their best to create alternative options to honor the 440 graduates.

Superintendent Mike Dugan said the scheduled graduation is still set for July 25, at the BMO Center in Rockford, but because of the possibility of changing regulations, students were given other options.

They could participate in an on-line virtual graduation at 8 a.m., Saturday, May 23, or participate in a back-up ceremony at the school the same day. There was also the option of attending all three.

Over 300 students elected to participate in the back-up ceremony art HCHS.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the graduate’s family members drove to the west side of the school building to pick up their child’s diploma case through the open window of their vehicle. The diploma cases and congratulations were distributed by Superintendent Dugan and HR Director Dr. Kendra Asbury.

Students entered through a separate door (one at a time, 6 ft apart,) and waited for their names to be called before walking across the stage to receive their diploma.

Family members waited in the school parking lot on the south side of the building to offer congratulations and take pictures.

The unusual graduation will be an unforgettable memory for the class of 2020.