JFK Graduates to Walk the Stage in Individual Ceremonies

John F. Kennedy High School will give each of its graduating seniors a chance to walk across the stage to receive their diplomas.

Individual ceremonies for each student will take place in the school’s theater, with six guests being allowed in to watch the student walk across the stage and receive his diploma from Principal Alnita Porea. Four students will be scheduled every 15 minutes. The entire event for the more than 100 graduates will take two and a half days and is scheduled for June 1, 2 and 3.

“It’s important for these students to have this moment because graduation, in and of itself, is a milestone but particularly for this group of seniors,” Porea said. “Their high school experience has not been traditional in any way but these young people have persevered. The least we can do is to give them a moment with their cap and gown in front of their families.”

A photographer will be on hand to capture the moments. Those photos will be compiled into a graduation video that will include eight speakers offering a minute or two of advice to the graduates. The video will be broadcast on the New Beginnings Schools Foundation Facebook page so that graduates and families can recapture their special moment. A link will be sent to families, who will also receive a copy of the video as a commemorative gift from the school.

 

“We definitely want to do all we can to honor our 2020 graduates, in the best way we can within the current constraints, because so much has been taken away from them,” New Beginnings Schools Foundation CEO Kevin R. George said. “Graduation is a symbolic event. You need to see it and feel it to truly experience it, and it’s something these students have been looking forward to their entire lives.”