Outdoor Graduation, Homecoming, and Grand March remain possibilities as administration begins planning for the end of the 2021 school year
The class of 2021 would be the first to graduate on Bison Field West if the plan is realized
BHS students have been wondering about Prom, Homecoming, and Graduation since the beginning of this school year. Because of COVID-19, many activities have been either changed or canceled. Recently some details finally came out about these three activities. As Fourth Quarter begins, Principal Mr. Mischke provided a clearer picture of what the end of this school year could look like.
Prom this year will be Grand March only and you must sign up to attend. Meaning, there will be no dance or other activities. When asked what the Grand March will look like this year, Mr. Mischke said that “the Grand March should be pretty typical.” It should be easy to follow social distancing regulations and stay safe with the normal Grand March layout. This Grand-March-only Prom will only allow seniors who sign up to attend. Each senior participating may bring one guest and that guest must be a BHS student.
Homecoming Coronation is going to happen directly after Prom and the audience will consist of the seniors who went to Prom.
“After the Grand March, we’re going to offer up the opportunity to go into the [Main Gym] stands… and then we’ll announce the King and Queen, and then the following week will be Homecoming week,” said Mischke.
Homecoming week will still have activities for all students to participate in.
“We are targeting different activities throughout the week with student councils working on Homecoming Week, dress-up days, things like that,” Mischke said. “And then we’ll have a ton of spring activities at home that week.”
One of the activities planned for Homecoming Week is a lacrosse game rather than the normal Homecoming football game, but there will be no homecoming dance this year due to space and social distancing restrictions.
The plan for the graduation ceremony this year is still somewhat unknown because the district can’t know what the restrictions and state mandates will be by then. The district is planning for several possible scenarios in order to be prepared to make graduation happen. It is possible that the restrictions will not allow the whole graduating class to be together. If this is the case, graduation will be split into two separate ceremonies, one for the first half of the alphabet, and the other for the second half. Each graduate will be able to invite two people.
“So as far as what the graduation will look like, ceremonies [will take place] on the field, probably with two guests, probably sitting in…like a little pod of three, and then that spread out throughout the field,” Mischke said.
The plan is to hold the ceremony outside on the football field. However, in case of inclement weather, the school also has a plan for an indoor ceremony.
As the events get closer, plans will be finalized and more information will be announced. For now, expect a Grand March/Homecoming Coronation event, a lacrosse Homecoming game, and possibly two graduation ceremonies happening on Bison Field West.
Photos by Matthew Scherber
