‘They’ve had a long road.’ Lexington schools hold drive-thru graduations during pandemic

Like most schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tates Creek High School wasn’t able to hold a normal graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020. But faculty and administrators still wanted to give students their special moment.

“They’ve had a long road and it’s nice to see that they get the recognition even in spite of what’s going on right now,” said Jonathon Ratliffe, an art teacher at Tates Creek High School.

Maroon and white balloons waved in the air, traditional graduation background music played and dozens of cars lined up beside the school Tuesday, waiting their turn to drive along the entrance and receive diplomas. Several were decorated with congratulatory messages painted on their windows.

After the cars passed a crowd of about two dozen cheering teachers, wearing masks and black graduation robes, they stopped at a tent where several administrators waited to greet them. As each graduate’s name was announced, they exited their vehicles to receive a diploma and pose for a picture with Principal Marty Mills.

Each group of graduates, organized alphabetically by last name, arrives according to their predetermined two-and-a-half-hour time slot. The optional ceremony will last from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Many new Tates Creek graduates were pleased with how Tuesday’s ceremony went.

“I think it was perfect,” said Ashley Farmer, who is enrolling at BCTC. “It was fast, so you don’t have to go wait for everything else. It’s quick and more personable.”

Like Tates Creek, all of Lexington’s public high schools will host some form of socially-distant graduation ceremony this week.

Vincent Adams is a senior at Lexington’s Frederick Douglass High School and graduated Tuesday. Adams said he thinks his classmates are happy to graduate, but miss the opportunity to walk the stage like past graduates have done.

“If there’s any chance like in January or July that we can actually walk across the stage, we’re fine with it,” Adams said. “They’re happy to graduate, but they want the real feel of walking across the stage.”

Kaeden Hollifield, an FDHS senior who will study communications at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, said he has enjoyed high school even though graduating during a pandemic has been “different.”

“You got to do what you got to do to get your diploma,” Hollifield said.

Several teachers were at the ceremony celebrating their students’ accomplishments. Crystal Washington teaches health and physical education, and summed up her thoughts on the pandemic.

“It sucks,” Washington said. “But at the same time I understand why we have to take the precautions that we do. It has definitely changed our way of life, way of thinking and has opened a lot of eyes.”

Washington said teaching health at FDHS has prepared her in some ways to respond effectively to the pandemic, but said she was not prepared for the economic shutdown that took place.

At Tates Creek, Andrew Fields, a graduate and future UK student, said that he thought that the ceremony was the best way to make up for what students missed due to COVID-19.

“You get to see the teachers still, which is amazing,” Fields said. “They’re always cheering you on as well which is similar to a regular graduation which I really, really enjoyed.”