Kanawha County Schools to hold eight in-person HS graduations this week

ELKVIEW, W.Va. — The Herbert Hoover High School Class of 2020 has experienced non-traditional events during the past four years. On Tuesday, the class will be the first Kanawha County school to hold a socially distanced in-person graduation ceremony. The senior class of Huskies will be honored at 10 a.m. at Laidley Field as part of the week full of high school graduation ceremonies for all eight Kanawha County high schools. Herbert Hoover High School (HHHS) principal Mike Kelley said he could not be happier for this graduating class that they get to have an in-person ceremony, even if there are health guidelines in place due to COVID-19. “They are very, very special to us,” he told 580-WCHS. “They have been through some difficult circumstances. In every case, they have risen to whatever challenge they have been in and they’ve done it with a great attitude.” Kanawha County Schools is asking all attendees to follow guidelines including: · KCS strongly encourages all attendees to wear masks. · Observe proper social distancing at all times, utilizing the entire south side of the bleachers. · KCS encourages only immediate family members to attend. · KCS strongly encourages no gathering on Laidley Field property before or after ceremonies. “We are going to try to stick to our traditional graduation ceremony as much as possible given the circumstances,” Kelley said. HHHS will have graduation practice at 8 a.m. on Tuesday where the social distancing rules will be put in check. Kelley said the class is around 180 students but not all will participate. He said the decision for children to participate is up to the family. “There are probably some families who will not participate because they are concerned about having their kids in it and then there will be some families that were adamant about wanting an in-person graduation ceremony,” Kelley said. Kelley said he does not have an estimate of the crowd size. “Health officials strongly encourage that the crowd is limited to immediate family members of our graduates. Some folks I’m sure will take those recommendations and feel they may need to include other people,” he said. These events will continue unless there are extreme weather conditions including lightning, high winds or a tornado warning. Saturday, June 27, will be the make-up date in the case of extreme weather. Capital High School will be 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, George Washington Wednesday at 10 a.m., St. Albans 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sissonville 10 a.m. on Thursday, Riverside 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nitro Friday at 10 a.m., and South Charleston 7 p.m. on Friday.