JACKSON – Seniors at Jackson Memorial High School and Jackson Liberty High School will be the first class ever to graduate in an entirely different way.
Like most high schools in the country, commencement ceremonies will be conducted virtually due to the ongoing conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With little time or hope left that any type of live graduation could take place, Superintendent Stephen Genco announced during the May 20 Board of Education meeting that the administration would be looking at how graduation exercises could be held and ways to make it special for the graduates.
During the Board’s second meeting held through a Zoom format and screened on the district’s YouTube channel and through its Jackson TV service, Genco remarked, “While virtual and different for what you are used to, doesn’t mean they will be lousy.
“At the request of our student leaders we’ve actually been on hold. They wanted us to hold off as long as possible to make any final decisions about graduation so we could actually have the best opportunity to do what makes the most sense and design an experience that gives them as close of a traditional experience as possible,” Genco said.
The superintendent said, “the directive from the state is that districts may not hold in person graduations. We cannot assemble a graduation ceremony and from a social distancing standards and events no larger than 10, we are still in phase one (of Gov. Phil Murphy’s Six Step Restart Program) so there is no way at this point we can have anything except a virtual graduation so we need to plan that for June 19.”
However, with a May 26 announcement by the governor, things may change. During one of his daily briefings Gov. Murphy announced that beginning July 6, school districts in New Jersey may hold outdoor graduation ceremonies that comply with social distancing requirements.
The governor said the state will release additional guidance about how those ceremonies should be managed and organized.
District Communications Director Allison Erwin said on May 26 that “The district is awaiting guidance from the state and will keep graduates and families updated as soon as possible.”
“We have a number of things planned and we certainly want to find ways to celebrate the phenomenal students we have. We will post more details about the virtual graduation ceremony and other senior recognitions on our website,” Genco said during the board meeting.
“We are also seeing what we can add to these virtual graduation plans in the future. In order to design a plan worthy of our amazing students we have to begin now. If something changes we certainly will consider it but we would be remiss if we didn’t do everything we can at this juncture to make as good for our students what they deserve,” Genco added.
The superintendent also talked about a recent communication to parents about the school district reaching phase three of its adaptation to the current school district remote learning program caused due to the coronavirus.
“We carefully planned out the first two weeks with assignments and we were able to identify students that from an equity standpoint didn’t have access to Chromebooks or computers and internet and were able to get them out in those first weeks so the second phase looked different,” Genco said.
“Now we are looking at the third phase and that will look even more different. As teachers continue with instruction they are planning to use the technology tools even more as they become more fluent with local video recordings as much as possible to deliver new material.”
Genco said that the district will be expanding its remote learning plans and expanding project based and collaborative assignments. “We definitely want to keep the school year going. We are mandated for the 180 days but we do recognize this is not normal circumstances.
“Once the weather gets warmer keeping the students on track is challenging when the students are here, so it will be even more challenging when they are home. So, doing it remotely without having some challenge-based learning, I think would be impossible,” Genco added.
Genco also noted “that typically in May we recognize the ROTC, and every year that I’ve been superintendent, the ROTC has been recognized as a distinguished unit with a merit award. In addition to all they’ve accomplished this year, just to mention a few, our Air Force Junior ROTC program at the high school has again earned ROTC distinguished unit merit award.”
The superintendent said that this award recognizes the personal growth and accomplishments of the cadets, the contributions of the instructors as mentors to the cadets and the support “our cadets provide to the community.”
“These cadets have spent thousands of hours of community service and have raised thousands of dollars for their own drill equipment, supplies, scholarship trips, awards and experiences. They give back to others and most importantly, they set the best possible example for their peers and classmates,” Genco added.
He later spoke about the annual award ceremonies that would normally be held around this time of year and would now be put together remotely.
“The different honor societies are being inducted all virtually. You will have the opportunity to see that if you are invited to those events. They have a great template,” Genco said giving credit to District Communications Director Allison Erwin who designed them.
Genco noted that award banquets would normally start occurring after Memorial Day weekend. “We are going to utilize those same dates and just do many of those same ceremonies virtually. I will be taping the speech I normally give for the senior awards. We will be creating all those virtual events.”
