After a challenging year of navigating online learning, seniors are almost at the finish line. Early in the year the administration revealed that seniors will be having a ceremony together. 

The seniors missed out on other senior traditions such as prom however, but senior Miah Emerson is “grateful that the administration worked hard to let us have an in-person [ceremony]…so at least we still have something to look forward to in May.”

 On April 21 a senior parent night meeting was held and more information about graduation was released. 

On May 19th and 20th there will be mandatory practices for graduation. Seniors are to report to the gym parking lot at 8 am to 12:00 noon. Graduation will be held on Friday, May 21 at Aloha Stadium, the doors will open at 4:30 p.m. and close at 5:15 p.m. The ceremony will begin at 6:00 p.m. In the stadium the Jumbotron will be used for viewing.

Commencement ceremony

Some of the guidelines for the commencement ceremony is only one vehicle per graduate. The maximum number of people per vehicle is five people, counting the graduates and two guests allowed in the stadium. When entering the Aloha stadium masks are required and temperature checks are mandatory. After the ceremony, lei-giving and picture-taking will not be allowed. 

Only two people are allowed as guests per graduate  because Mrs. Martin had to make a choice. She had to choose whether to have a Spectrum broadcast of the ceremony with no parents allowed in the stadium, or include the parents and give up the Spectrum broadcast. Mrs. Martin wanted to make sure parents saw their children graduate, resulting in this year’s ceremony not having a Spectrum broadcast. However the school is filming the ceremony and will be broadcasting it on KHON-TV the following week. 

The rules for the commencement ceremony were established for everyone’s safety although seniors such as Claire Narimasu are “ a little sad that we won’t get to hug each other or [have] a mountain of lei’s [on our necks].”

Although with some limitation graduation will still be a moment the seniors will never forget.

Diploma pickup day

After graduation on Monday, May 24th graduates can pick up their diplomas at the school.  Students will need a valid picture ID to pick up their diploma. Final transcript requests will also be available on that day.