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Grade 12s possibly hopeful for grad events as Dr Henry encourages students and teachers to reconnect in June

Premier John Horgan highlights Grade 12 graduation as a powerful glimpse of the future

cap and book
High school graduation: stepping out to the adult world.
BC 2024 Provincial Election news analysis

Friday May 15, 2020 ~ LANGFORD | BC [Some updates on May 16, 2020]

EDITORIAL INSIGHTS by Mary Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News

In recent weeks there has been intense community feeling about taking best care with grads during COVID-19.

The Ministry of Education and school districts have understandably been focussed on continued learning for students in K-11 who will be returning to school in June and again in the fall. Grade 12s have essentially been told to feel unique about graduating during a pandemic, and — at least until today — have been denied the opportunity for any regular sort of graduation ceremony.

Grade 12 Graduation issue sees mixed messages:

Education Minister Rob Fleming, May 15 2020
Education Minister Rob Fleming during his announcement about schools in Phase 2 of the COVID-19 restart in BC, May 15, 2020 in Victoria.

This morning on the matter of graduation events there was mixed messaging from the premier, minister of education and public health officer.

The livestreamed announcement to the media today included a nearly unprecedented number of speakers — four: Premier John Horgan, Education Minister Rob Fleming, Provincial Health Officer (PHO) Dr Bonnie Henry, and Minister of State for Child Care Katrina Chen. They had a lot to cover in one hour, given the many stakeholders in the education system — from child care (parents and providers), through K-12 (teachers, staff, students and parents), and the needs of honouring graduates who are soon leaving the system.

On the matter of graduation, today Education Minister Fleming seemed stuck in earlier Phase 1 pandemic messaging that effectively said to grads ‘so sad, but too bad’, given the PHO’s directives for physical distancing. That was in contrast today to Dr Henry now encouraging Grade 12’s to “reconnect with friends and teachers in a safe way”, and Premier Horgan further emphasizing the importance of graduation ceremonies (which he has attended every year since becoming an MLA in 2005) by wrapping up the question-and-answer portion of the media briefing with a message directly noting grads in his Langford-Juan de Fuca riding.

Premier John Horgan, May 15, 2020
Premier John Horgan addressed media about re-opening schools to all grades, in Victoria on May 15, 2020 [livestream]

Horgan’s message to all grads in British Columbia is that — on that one day each year at past grad events — he has seen a glimpse of the full array of people’s lifepaths in that one moment… for all the directions in careers and in life that they will travel. That seemed an appropriate sociological perspective that has somehow been lost in the hands-on management of PHO orders about physical distancing, and some school districts seeming to be overwhelmed over trying to doing something that would genuinely engage the grads in their final farewell to their youth.

Deciding what to do about graduation ceremonies:

Grad 2020, cap
Grad 2020 will be unique.

The task of deciding what to do about Grade 12 graduation ceremonies is still generally left up to each of the 60 school districts in BC to decide for themselves what to do. But there’s not a lot of time, and many school districts already have some plans in the works.

This is a busy if not chaotic time period — with the province’s economy and society having for months been effectively in lockdown (and schools offering in-class learning only to workers of essential children since March 30). Now there are the demands of organizing suddenly ‘back to class’ in just two weeks.

The June 1 restart for public education in BC was announced today by Education Minister Rob Fleming, backed in various ways by Premier John Horgan and Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry. It will not be mandatory for students to attend class at school and parents were told not to feel pressured about whether their children should return to the classroom. Teachers who are over age 60 (and therefore in a higher-risk group for COVID-19) may have options for remaining as remote-learning providers.

Designing a pandemic, with an eye to graduation:

Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry, May 15 2020
Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry during media briefing on May 15, 2020 in Victoria. [livestream]

Dr Henry — as BC’s architect of “our pandemic” in this province — today now says to students in Grade 12 who are about to graduate from high school that she encourages friends and teachers to see each other again at a safe distance.

Either way, for weeks she has tried to deliver with intrigue and cheer that the grads of 2020 are part of a ‘unique’ experience and will have a memorable tale for the rest of their lives about graduating during a significant global pandemic.

Today Minister Fleming toed the line of that upbeat quirkiness of the ‘unique to be graduating in a pandemic’ messaging, and said that a regular graduation ceremony “is simply not possible” in that the PHO “continues to restrict and ban large gatherings in BC”.

But Fleming’s remark seemed a bit out of step with Dr Henry’s encouragement to open up opportunities for grads to reconnect “with friends and teachers”. So perhaps there will be a change of direction or further clarification from the Education minister on that in short order, as school districts will appreciate all the time they can get for planning new grad ceremony arrangements amidst the flurry of other requirements for re-opening a flavour of in-class learning for June 1.

Getting back to class, part-time:

In-class learning starting June 1 will see children in Kindergarten to Grade 5 attending part-time (two to three days per week, in pared-down class sizes to allow for physical distancing and supported with more stations and opportunities for hand washing and sanitizing), and students in Grades 6 to 12 attending in-class one day per week.

Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care
Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care, at May 15, 2020 media briefing.

Students in all grades will still be expected to take part in directed remote learning for the other days each week, as best they can.

This setup is a good trial run for what public education might look like starting in September 2020 for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Child care centres in BC may also start operating as of June 1, with no penalty of loss of place or registration fees for parents who chose to not bring their children to day care spaces at this time. That announcement was made by Minister of State for Child Care, Katrina Chen. Chen’s career profile includes being a school board trustee (in Burnaby).

The impact of being a 2020 ‘pandemic grad’:

graduation 2020, toilet paper, cap and gown
Graduate with toilet paper, cap and gown, with a tone of discontent. [web]

“All of our kids need to be commended for their resiliency,” said Minister Fleming today. He said that for the class of 2020, wrapping up their years in high school during a global pandemic is “something that will be unforgettable for the rest of their lives”.

Being part of “the pandemic grad class of 2020” (as Fleming called it) will no doubt be something of a badge of honour for some, but likely will also carry a measure of trauma similar to those who graduated during the Great Depression (something which became cycled through their own children and extended families over the years).

Heading out into the adult world is a transitional huge step at any time, and this year’s grads are doing that into a very suddenly changed world. Many have expressed how they feel left out now with the education system’s organizational attention being on the students in younger grades who will stay in the system. 

face masks, graduation
A selfie in face masks for 2020 graduation.

The trauma that could be produced at feeling significantly left out could be softened with an attempt for inclusion now, even with an adapted and simple graduation event (or set of smaller events). Yes, students are “smart and resilient” as Fleming said today, but it’s the emotional level of this experience that could linger with some them in a way that challenges their mental and emotional well-being in the future.

It’s ironic that for a generation of youth so engaged with online, virtual and social media technologies and the ‘communities’ created by those Internet-based means, that so many graduates feel disregarded with ‘just a video’ to mark their graduation. That response reasserts the value of social interaction and the importance of pausing to highlight important transitions in our lives in authentic ways. Virtual reality is simply not the same as in-person. Everyone knows that, and here is a chance to walk the talk.

West shore focus:

“Some Belmont Secondary School Grade 12 students in recent weeks have tried suggesting to the Sooke School District 62 (SD62) administration some creative options for grad ceremonies that they feel could still work within the physical distancing parameters as laid out by the Provincial Health Officer.

Some ideas — as seen being done in other provinces — include smaller groups arranged spaciously, perhaps in a large arena or in a drive-in-style format outdoors with each family in their cars, and live-streaming that for equity access.

Today Fleming said he is “wanting to be supportive to all students”. And Dr Henry seems to have given the green light for grad events so long as it’s done in a way that is safe.

Perhaps this provides an opportunity for reconsideration by SD62 which serves over 11,000 students and families in the west shore (including Langford, Colwood, Sooke, Highlands, Juan de Fuca up to Port Renfrew, and parts of View Royal). There are almost 1,000 graduating students this year. That’s a large group to be sure, but a group that clearly does not want to feel disregarded.

Shifting to ‘memorable’:

grad 2020
Graduation 2020

Being labelled as “the pandemic grad class of 2020” could feel traumatic more than memorable for many grads.

It would kind kind, calm and attentive for school districts to now shift to a more interactive and in-person style of grad ceremony process in June 2020, while still being COVID-attentive.

===== Related articles by West Shore Voice News:

===== About the writer:

Mary Brooke, editor and publisher
Mary Brooke, Editor and Publisher, West Shore Voice News [file photo 2018]

West Shore Voice News editor Mary Brooke, B.Sc., Cert PR has been covering education news on the west shore since 2014, including attending almost all SD62 board meetings as media (and in recent years the Education Policy and Resources committee meetings). As the mother of four grown children, Mary experienced during 1991-2015 the inside-track of public education in SD61 and SD62. Ms Brooke has covered the politics of Premier John Horgan during his 15 years as an MLA on the west shore.