Cheney High commencement details announced

CHENEY – Commencement exercises for the class of 2020 will be a five-day affair, culminating in a video to be run on June 12 — the original date for Cheney High School’s ceremony.

At its May 27 meeting, Superintendent Rob Roettger gave school board members an overview of items to honor seniors, whose normal final year activities have been denied due to restrictions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. The main part of the plan begins June 1, as seniors and up to five members of their immediate family arrive at the high school for photos and videos.

“It’s quite honestly not our traditional graduation, which we had all hoped for, but I feel we have a lot of things planned to honor our seniors in a good way,” Roettger said.

Beginning at 8 a.m. and on an hourly basis, students and families will park in the high school’s parking lot and enter the facility — which is still undergoing remodeling work — in order based upon the student’s last name. Students and families may arrive early, but must wait in their vehicles until their scheduled hour.

Processing 10-13 students per hour, students and family first enter the school through the new Commons to drop off books or other materials and pick up graduation information. They leave the Commons through another door, marked “Home of the Blackhawks” where a photographer waits to take portrait photos.

Seniors and families then proceed to the new 500-seat auditorium where the student, dressed in cap and gown holding the diploma will cross the stage while being videotaped. Family members may also take photos, and can arrange to be the one presenting the diploma.

Roettger said the videos will be assembled after this process completes on June 4 into one video to be posted on the school district’s website prior to 7 p.m. Friday, June 14.

“We’re going to have video of every single senior getting their names called, walking across the stage with their diplomas as part of that final video that will be shown on the 12th,” Roettger said.

Leaving the auditorium, seniors and families move to the football field where other aspects of graduation will be set up. Roettger said volunteers are painting the names of all seniors on the field, along with the school logo.

There will be 2-foot-by-3-foot banners with each seniors name, photo and school logo hung about the field. Students and families are invited to take pictures next to either or both of these features.

Roettger said they have also spoken to the city of Cheney and will be hanging banners across 1st Street, similar to those displayed for the Cheney Rodeo, that include the high school and the district’s alternative school, Three Springs High School, which is planning a similar commencement program.

The final piece is Friday night, June 5, with a drive-through event similar to the BeTheLight ceremony held at the high school on April 17. Roettger said they are finalizing details and coordination with Cheney police, but said the intent is to allow students and immediate families in a single vehicle — that can be decorated — to parade through the school bus loop while staff members social distance and line the loop to acknowledge the graduates.

Roettger said the idea for these events came after initial discussions centered on a drive-in style graduation. But after reviewing guidelines for graduation ceremonies released May 14 by the Spokane Regional Health District, which essentially kept everyone participating in a drive-in ceremony in their vehicles, decided to look at other avenues.

“So we landed on a virtual ceremony and concept and then a drive-through where seniors and families can come through the bus loop with diploma and tassel to turn as well, like we did with the Friday Night Lights in April,” Roettger said.

High school principal Troy Heuett and school nurse Allison Hahn worked with SRHD senior epidemiologist Mark Springer on details for the plan. Springer then took the plan to Health District Director Dr. Bob Lutz, who approved it Wednesday afternoon.

Roettger said some community members were urging the district to do more, and essentially “push the envelope” to risk possibly defying some of the health guidelines. He told the board the plan should maintain a balance between safety and recognizing this year’s graduating class.

“I feel like this honors us in a way that we feel is special towards us and recognizes the accomplishments and achievements that we’ve done through these past 12 years,” school board student advisor and senior J.T. Gaspar said. “More importantly, it keeps everyone safe.”

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].