District hoping to project graduation ceremony

Superintendent of Schools Bernard DiLullo detailed the district’s graduation plan – which includes pre-planned photo sessions and an eventual projection of the ceremony – during a Tuesday afternoon interview with the Sun Rise.

DiLullo said students will have appointments set up to be photographed with their diploma jackets, which their parents will be allowed to attend as well. Those photos, as well as individual speeches, will be packaged together and played at a ceremony whose date and location have yet to be determined.

“They need to stay in their cars because the guidance is still, we’re not supposed to have public gatherings to view the graduation ceremony,” DiLullo said. “We’ve been using the state guidance on what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. They’ve been very clear that you can’t have anything that’s live where you’re exchanging items from one hand to another, large crowds gathering. There really was no other choice than to do it virtually.”

Senior class advisors Nadia Cricco and Vincent Verardo said they were pleased with the adjusted concept for graduation, but their hearts go out to the students they’ve worked with over the past four years.

Verardo said several events, including a trip to Disney and senior Prom and banquet, were canceled, but students have been trying to complete the final push to graduation regardless of the disappointment.

“I think on the student end, they understand what’s going on. They’re just frustrated, which is understandable, and I think they’re just trying to stay motivated because all of those events they’ve been looking forward to for the past 12 or so years are just cancelled on them,” Verardo said via a Google Meet interview with Cricco last week. “I know everybody tries – we’re trying to do this whole graduation special, and that’s great, and I really think it’s a great idea. It’s just never going to be the same.”

Despite the challenges, DiLullo and the class advisors all lauded the students, teachers and administration for their acclimation to distance learning over the past two months. DiLullo said it’s “going as well as can be expected,” though he reiterated his concern about student fatigue as they get toward the finish line.

“Parents are hanging in, they’re supporting their students in terms of getting the work done. There’s three more weeks of it to go,” DiLullo said. “We have one day that’s a professional day on June 1, and then on June 16 that’s going to be our last day. For the most part, the kids have hung in, the teachers have hung in. I think it’ll be a successful year, at least finishing the year successfully for most of our students.”

Cricco and Verardo agreed that some days are better than others, but overall students have done well with the switch to virtual learning. They know, though, that there’s no perfect substitute for in-classroom teaching.

“They understand, it’s just not a replacement for an in-person [situation] and I know they miss the relationships and the bonds with the actual teachers,” Verardo said. “Over a computer screen, you just can’t get there.”

Graduation isn’t the only major senior event that’s gone virtual in Johnston. DiLullo said the district recently held honors night through two different platforms – spectators watched on Google Meet while awards were presented to students on Zoom. He said there were some glitches and it was a “tough program to put together,” but the process mostly went smoothly.

“I am impressed with all of our teachers, all of our administrators, they’ve done the best that they possibly could and gone above and beyond in terms of making this whole distance learning thing work and then being able to continue with as much as we’re allowed to continue with on the celebrations,” DiLullo said. “A lot of districts just canceled those kinds of events, our high school continued with it and made it work.”