Graduation adaptation: plans that have been adjusted due to COVID-19

Here’s a sampling of local graduation plans that have been adjusted due to COVID-19

Damien Memorial School, Kalihi, Oahu, will stream its graduation ceremony online. The school president, principal, master of ceremonies and two students will be physically present in the gym for the commencement exercises, but pictures of all the seniors will be displayed onscreen as their names are read. After the ceremony, graduates in cap and gown can come to the school parking lot to receive their diplomas and take photos in front of two Damien Memorial School backdrops. A large poster of each graduate will be sent to their home for display outside.

St. Joseph School, Hilo, Hawaii, has nine graduates this year and they will have a drive-by diploma distribution on May 23 at 5:15 p.m. The graduates and their family members quarantined with them will drive in decorated cars to the gym parking lot and be led by the valedictorian’s and salutatorian’s cars around the block. Then, three cars at a time, the graduated will pull into the school’s circle entrance. Each graduate will exit alone and come up to hear their name and honors read aloud by school counselor Nathan Yocum, be blessed by Blessed Sacrament Father Apolianario Ty and be given their diplomas by school principal Michael Paekukui. The ceremony will be filmed and edited along with speeches to be shared to a larger audience later. The school has also created an email account for people to send well-wishes and goodbyes to the graduate class. The letters will be printed and added to the graduate’s individual packets for later pick-up.

St. Anthony School, Wailuku, Maui, will have a drive-in graduation ceremony on the field next to the school that will allow immediate family members of graduates to be safely socially distanced. The event will be recorded and livestreamed for those that can’t attend.

Sacred Hearts Academy, Kaimuki, Oahu, will hold a closed Baccalaureate Mass in its school chapel on May 23 at 3 p.m. The Mass will be live-streamed on Facebook with only a priest, musicians, campus minister Sacred Hearts Sister Katherine Francis Miller and a few other people physically present. A virtual commencement will be streamed after Mass with possible speeches incorporated. If COVID-19 state rules change in the near future, the school said it may include future in-person commencement events for the Class of 2020.

Saint Louis School, Kaimuki, Oahu, will post to its website a pre-recorded Baccalaureate Mass on May 31. The Mass will take place at the Mystical Rose Oratory on campus and include the class valedictorian and salutatorian. Each senior’s picture will be displayed and their names announced. For commencement on June 6 at the Mamiya Theatre, each senior and up to four family members will enter the theater individually and receive a school-colored red and blue lei and their diplomas plus take a picture. The ceremony will air later on TV and radio.

Maryknoll School, Honolulu, Oahu, will have a drive-thru cap and gown pickup on May 23 for the Class of 2020. Planning is underway for a virtual graduation ceremony to be livestreamed and recorded on June 5 at 6 p.m. The school will be honoring its seniors through social media posts, a Hawaii News Now segment airing May 15, an OC16 segment, a photo wall on campus, and banners on the outside of campus building congratulating the graduates.

The diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry is collecting photos of eighth grade, twelfth grade, and college graduates for a video project. To submit photos and for more information, email oyyam@rcchawaii.org.

OYYAM is also hosting a virtual prayer service with Bishop Larry Silva for eighth grade, twelfth grade and college graduates Thursday, May 21 at 7 p.m. This replaces the annual diocesan Baccalaureate Mass this year. To RSVP go to https://forms.gle/KEYXpogQ4i5XcaSh9.

Let us know what your Catholic school has planned for graduation ceremonies this year. Email herald@rcchawaii.org.