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With regular June commencement ceremonies at VCU’s Siegel Center cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, each HCPS high school will have a three-part “Graduation Celebration 2020” instead.
The three events will include a virtual “Graduation Ceremony Watch Party,” a “Graduation Victory Lap” at Richmond Raceway and a “Cap and Gown Photo Session” for each graduate, capturing the moment they accept their diploma. The events will enable graduates and their families and friends to mark the occasion while also prioritizing health and safety.
The graduation ceremony watch parties will be held June 8-11. They will include many of the elements of a traditional graduation, such as student speeches and remarks from local dignitaries. Each senior will have their name and photo shows in a video slideshow, it is during this event that seniors will officially be pronounced “graduates.”
Richmond Raceway has offered HCPS use of “America’s Premier Short Track” for a “Graduation Victory Lap,” during which graduates and their immediate family members will parade in cars around the oval. Seniors will arrive in decorated vehicles (one vehicle per graduate, with a nine-passenger limit) and be directed to the track by a Richmond Raceway pace car.
Once in “pole position,” they will be able to tune into HCPS’ student radio station to hear “Pomp and Circumstance” while cruising toward victory lane. Principals will be there to wave the checkered flag as each graduate crosses the finish line while their names are announced in front of school faculty members and local dignitaries.
The culmination of Graduation Celebration 2020 will be a chance for graduates to pose in their caps and gowns, accepting their diplomas, in individual photos taken by a professional photographer. Each graduate will have a scheduled time to come to their school to receive their diploma. HCPS will cover the cost of one 8-by-10 print for each graduate.
Seniors and their families will receive more detailed information about Graduation Celebration 2020 from their principals.
