"Unpredictable, but in the end it's right; I hope you had the time of your life" District working on preproduction for virtual graduations

MAT-SU — As Mat-Su Borough School District students left for spring break, they were unaware that it would be the last time they would congregate with their classmates and teachers in a group of more than 20 at distances of less than six feet apart.

As news of the spread of COVID-19 to Alaska was released while the students and staff were on spring break, school districts across the state began to plan for an uncharted territory in Alaskan education — virtual instruction. Students entering their final year of high school have had their spring sporting events, prom and most importantly, graduation ceremony experiences taken from them by the safety measures put in place to prevent the rapid spread of COVID-19.

“Graduation’s been the toughest decision that we had to make and nothing’s going to replace gathering with your family and friends and so it’s been really challenging,” said MSBSD Superintendent Dr. Monica Goyette.

When Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the decision to keep students and staff out of school buildings across Alaska for the remainder of the school year, MSBSD began planning for how they could keep the experience of graduation events alive without breaking social distancing protocols and state health mandates.

“I know a lot of the kids feel like well, we’re not going to get a graduation, but we’re going to try to do our best to make this a special event,” said Wasilla High School teacher John Notestine. “Every school is doing a really good job of adding one component that just makes it hit home for everybody.”

To fill the void left by the lack of physical graduation ceremony, MSBSD called on Colony High School teacher Brian Mead and Notestine to produce unique virtual graduations to be livestreamed at the time of the scheduled ceremony. Mead teaches broadcast journalism, digital media, computer science and robotics at Colony and Notestine teaches computer science, robotics, digital communications and audio visual courses at Wasilla. The two have teamed up to tackle the task of a month long intensive production project for each of the 13 schools with graduating seniors.

“It was our objective to still try to capture the moment and that sense of the event,” said Mead. “We’re trying as many creative ideas as we can and we bounce off of each other a lot, and all of a sudden we bought a trumpet player outside to shoot him and that’s spontaneous stuff.”

Mead and Notestine work together often on digital media projects in the district and have produced the live broadcast of graduations at the Menard Sports Complex for the last six years, utilizing their media students to collaborate and ensure the live production runs smoothly. Mead said that he and Notestine spent 22 hours setting up and adjusting mics and lights in the school board chambers at the district office building, and have had to continue fiddling with light and sound equipment during the filming process. With a week and a half to shoot musicians, staff and student speakers for each ceremony and another week and half to edit the 13 videos that will be livestreamed, Mead and Notestine are racing the clock to try and provide a unique event experience for approximately 1,200 MSBSD grads.

“There’s all these creative ideas that get thrown out, we want to do this parade, we want to do all these things, but our number one concern is safety and keeping people separate here. We’re making sure we maintain social distancing. We schedule people in time blocks so everybody’s not coming to district office at the same time so we’re really doing our best to maintain that,” said Notestine.

Each of the 13 unique graduation videos must also be sent to an American Sign Language interpreter who will then record a video signing the entire ceremony before it has to be sent back to Mead and Notestine who will add the footage to the graduation videos.

On Wednesday, Mead and Notestine recorded the Burchell High School graduation video, where approximately 50 students will receive diplomas in May. Notestine echoed BHS principal Shelli Lincoln who noted that 2020 graduates will have a story to remember forever. While the heat is on to finish the massive production, MSBSD has not ruled out an additional stage walk in the fall that could be done without social distancing measures, theoretically.

“We can still do something in August for these students to celebrate their graduations, but we don’t want to not do anything for them now so we’re going to do the best we can,” said Notestine.

Instead of packing into the Menard Sports Center where most of the MSBSD high schools hold their graduations, students and staff have been filing into the district offices a few at a time to record their portion of the ceremony. Mead did note that when graduations air, students will not be prevented from using air horns or inflating beach balls in their own homes. While the filming process unfolds, the board chambers are not packed with parents, balloons, staff and seniors, but the emotions of having completed their high school education is visibly apparent on the faces of student speakers and musicians.

“As they come in and they get to take their picture in their cap and gown and we have singers come in and class speakers and families get to see, I hope that that’s going to build anticipation and that they will gather in small gatherings up to 20 with their family and friends and celebrate the event,” said Goyette.

Palmer High School is one of the MSBSD schools that does not travel to Wasilla for use of the Menard Center. Instead, hundreds pack the bleachers and upper track of the PHS gym and endure less than ideal acoustics in order to watch their loved ones walk across the stage to receive their diploma.

“The reason I work in school is to work with students,” said Palmer High School counseling secretary JoLene Grover. “I miss working with the kids and when we got to hand out their cap and gown orders, even though it was practicing social distance, it was my best day ever until today just because I got to be with the kids.”

One of Palmer’s 189 graduates is Grover’s granddaughter, who will not be able to receive a hug from her grandmother after walking across the stage to complete her high school experience.

After a month without physically interacting with her beloved students, on Friday Grover got to experience her annual tradition of shedding happy tears at the sight of the graduation performance that she has for decades at Palmer High. Grover sat and watched PHS senior Madison Drawdy as she recorded her rendition of “Million Dreams.” In the same room with her students for the first time in over a month, Grover felt pride in watching Drawdy perform and became emotional, and suspects that she will feel that same sense of pride rolling down her cheeks as she watches Palmer’s graduation on a computer screen in May.

“This is really an unforgettable class. They are just so kind and generous and truly I’m going to miss them,” said Grover. “That’s I think the hardest part is not being able to say goodbye to them and I usually get to hug them as they cross the stage and I won’t get to do that this year so I will miss the hugs.”

Editor’s note: Subscribe to Frontiersman.com for more reaction from MSBSD graduating seniors next week.

Each MSBSD high school graduation can be streamed at http://www.matsutv.com/

• Houston Junior Senior High School will graduate approximately 75 students on May 11 at 7 p.m.

• Career Tech High School will graduate 140 students on May 12 at 7 p.m.

• Palmer High School will graduate 189 students on May 12 at 7 p.m.

• Redington Junior Senior High School will graduate 49 students on May 12 at 7 p.m.

• Valley Pathways will graduate 57 students on May 13 at 1 p.m.

• Colony High School will graduate 175 students on May 13 at 7 p.m.

• Su Valley High School will graduate 24 students on May 13 at 7 p.m.

• Mat-Su Central School will graduate 180 students on May 13 at 7 p.m.

• Wasilla High School will graduate approximately 165 students on May 14 at 7 p.m.

• Twindly Bridge Charter School will graduate 8 students on May 14 at 7 p.m.

• Mat-Su Middle College will graduate 91 students on May 15 at 1 p.m.

• Burchell High School will graduate approximately 50 students on May 15 at 4 p.m.

• Glacier View School will graduate 1 student.