Fraser High School prepares for unique graduation day in June

The high school class of 2020 has spent the past 12 years building up to the day they walk across the stage to get their diploma with their family watching from the stands. The teachers and staff at Fraser High School are working to make it happen - as best as they can.

Fraser High School Principal Ryan sines said they're doing everything they can to make the best of the current situation.

"We have constraints that we're working under - whether that be the executive order of the governor, the stay home order, or social distancing - we wanted to abide by those but also provide something special for our students," Sines said.

Fraser Public Schools Superintendent Carrie Wozniak said the school is planning a drive-thru graduation on the school's football field - complete with the seniors on the scoreboard and a stage covered with artificial turf. They've been working for weeks to pull off the memorable graduation.

"It's a great group of kids and they deserve to have their work and their academic achievements celebrated and I don't think there's any better place than on our football field," Wozniak said.

The special ceremony will be held on June 6th and will have graduation speeches, a senior cruise, a parade of sorts, and a commencement ceremony with as much pomp and circumstances as these seniors deserve.

"The car will drive on to the football field, the student will get out, do a short walk to get their diploma from the board of education like they would be walking across the stage at Mount Zion, where we normally do our graduation," Sines said.

When the students' names are read, their names and photos will be displayed on the board while the bleachers are bathed in school colors of blue and gold.

"As the sun starts to go down it's going to look pretty neat and pretty special," Sines said.

Teachers will be wearing caps and gowns and masks to coordinate traffic and video cameras will capture it all. It's going to be a much bigger and complicated production than what they're used to.

"We've been, I think, so isolated for the past nine weeks that this has really brought a lot of people together and a lot of creativity and a lot of opportunities to find some joy and have some fun in a really difficult time," Wozniak said.

Sines said thinking differently is something people in education do all the time.

"Thinking outside the box is something that we do normally every single day in education so this just added another layer to that," Sines said.

While this graduation won't be the one they imagined, it will be one nobody will ever forget.

"We're making the best out of a difficult situation and we're keeping students safety first," Wozniak said.