Graduation will be here before we know it, and the question as to whether or not it could be outside has been a looming topic for Essex High School seniors.
When current seniors were freshmen and sophomores, graduation was either at the fair grounds or on the stadium field due to COVID restrictions. However, once COVID restrictions were lifted, graduation was moved back into the rink.
In The Hive article titled “In or Out? The Graduation Debate” published on April 17, 2023, Katie Adams and Ella Weidman, spoke with Wes Pitcher, a former Essex High School student. Pitcher created a petition requesting that the Class of 2022-2023 graduation be held outdoors after finding out it was going to be held indoors.
“I was in my psychology class, and it was brought up that graduation was going to be held inside. This was a class of all seniors, and I’m pretty sure every single one of them was upset,” Pitcher said in the article.
His petition included reasons for wanting an outdoor ceremony, pointing out how it will be more accommodating for divorced parents, larger families, and COVID concerns.
“There is also a section for feedback from signers. I’ve seen some comments where people have expressed the same concerns,” Pitcher said in the article.
Regardless, before the pandemic the locations of graduation were never discussed amongst others. It was always assumed that it would stay in the rink as it was the tradition for many years.
In an interview with EHS Assistant Principal, Jefferson Goodrich, he shared the history of graduation and why having it at the rink is beneficial for EHS graduates and their families.
Even though last year’s graduates were frustrated over the ceremony being moved back inside the rink, it ended up being the best decision due to heavy rain.
“I will point out that when we had our outdoor events during the pandemic, we were blessed with good weather, which is not always the case. Last year it did rain on graduation day,” Goodrich said.
When the ceremony was held outside and the weather was beautiful, sitting in the hot sun became a challenge for many attendees.
“When we did have that good weather, we had some medical incidents as a result of the weather and people being exposed to sun, dehydration, and dizziness. So there are things that are detrimental to being outside,” Goodrich said.
Providing a tent is one option to alleviate these conditions, however, it will come with difficulties. There is an irrigation system responsible for watering the stadium field, which interferes with staking down tents.
“We looked at other fields as a possibility and then that became an accessibility issue. We would have to go into the outfields of the softball or baseball field in order to get away from the irrigation systems,” Goodrich said.
There are some high schools that do graduate under tents. However, event tents can be expensive and finding one that is big enough for EHS’s graduating class could be hard.
“We were unable to find a tent of adequate size that would meet the needs of the size of our graduating class and families,” Goodrich said. “We would have to reduce the number of graduates pretty significantly.”
Essex High School is the only school in Chittenden County that has a facility on campus that can accommodate the large number of graduates and their friends and families.
“We happen to have the benefit of having an on campus facility that is adequate for our numbers. We don’t turn anyone away,” Goodrich said. “We’ve had extraordinarily large families, requesting up to 24 tickets, and they have gotten them. It’s just a matter of asking, and it will be accommodated for.”
It is clear that EHS administration have many factors to consider when planning such a large event. It is not a simple answer.
“The beauty of being able to have our rink on campus is you have the hour ceremony, and then you have the rest of the day to take care of your photos, to meet and greet, to barbecue,” Goodrich said.
