Brookwood’s graduation is slated for Friday, July 24, but the nature of the ceremony will be determined by Monroe County’s Coulee Covid-19 Compass risk rating that week.
The district has devised two plans, one of which one will be used if Monroe County is in severe or high risk; and the other, if the county is in moderate or low risk.
Superintendent Travis Anderson will decide which plan to use on or by 1 p.m. Friday, July 24. The Coulee Covid-19 Compass can be seen at lacrosse.org/covid19compass.
• Plan A (moderate or low risk) calls for a ceremony in the school parking lot, with each graduate allowed to invite up to eight spectators. In the parking lot, each graduate will have a cone with his or her name on it. The graduates’ spectators may place lawn chairs or blankets near their cones and must socially distance from other families.
• Plan B (severe or high risk, or rain) entails a drive-through ceremony. In that scenario, each graduate may have only one family vehicle, which must be parked by his or her cone. Families will be able to listen to the ceremony via their car radios (frequency to be determined). Each family will drive his or her student to the front of the parking lot, where administrators will hand out diplomas through car windows.
The ceremony also will be livestreamed via the Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton School District’s YouTube account (www.youtube.com/channel/UCrk3fBY_I4qkrewvJew1xXQ).
Schedule
The following will be the first part of the schedule for the ceremony, regardless of which plan the district chooses:
• 11:30 a.m. — Graduates gather physically distanced at school and open capsules (if they haven’t already).
• 12 p.m. — Lunch (students will get sack lunches)
• 1 p.m. — Superintendent Travis Anderson will decide which plan to use.
• 1 p.m. — Practice (graduates should bring caps and gowns to school and should leave them at school unless the district opts for Plan B).
This is the remaining schedule for Plan A:
• 6 p.m. — Graduates and advisers will arrive at school and meet in cafeteria.
• 6 p.m. — Students will dress in caps and gowns
• 6 p.m. — Programs will be handed out
• 6:50 p.m. — Business education teacher Deb Ferries will organize students, who will proceed to chairs
• 7 p.m. — Processional starts
• 7:05 p.m. — Graduation ceremony as usual
• 7:45 p.m. — Students will be released to family/spectator groups; spectator groups will be encouraged to leave.
This is the remaining schedule for Plan B:
• 6:30 p.m. — Graduates and families arrive at school and stay in cars
• 6:30 p.m. — One car per student/family; park in spot labeled by the student’s name. Advisers will hand out programs.
• 7 p.m. — Ceremony will be aired via radio broadcast.
In a letter to graduates and families, Principal Angela Funk shared the following notes on the ceremony:
• Students need to dress appropriately, wearing nice shoes (no tennis shoes, beach thong sandals, etc.). They will be provided with masks.
• Although it won’t be enforced, the district encourages spectators to wear masks.
• Families also should dress appropriately.
• Families can cheer for their graduates.
