GMC Prep to hold first local in-person graduation Friday
Published 7:45 pm Tuesday, June 23, 2020
- GMC Prep will hold the first in-person graduation locally Friday evening on Grant Parade Field in the shadow of the Old Capitol Building. Seating is set up so families can sit together while being distanced from other families. Adjustments were made Tuesday to reduce the number of chairs available given the spread of COVID-19 locally.
Georgia Military College Preparatory School will be the first local school to host an in-person ceremony honoring the Class of 2020.
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GMC Prep has set its graduation for 7 p.m. Friday with several measures in place aimed at keeping COVID-19 from possibly spreading among attending graduates and family members. The ceremony will be outdoors on Grant Parade Field on the GMC campus and attendance will be limited. Seniors have been given a designated number of tickets to give out to immediate family members so they may attend. The event is otherwise closed to the public.
“The safety of everyone involved in graduation on Friday is of extreme importance,” a Tuesday statement from the school reads. “That’s why GMC Prep School is taking necessary precautions to provide a safe and healthy environment.”
Those attending Friday’s graduation, including graduates, faculty, staff, parents and family, will be screened by school nursing staff upon arrival, and the school says that anyone with a temperature of 100 degrees or over will not be allowed in the venue. Graduates will be seated 6 feet apart while families will be allowed to sit together while being separated from other families. GMC Prep said that the ceremony will be “contactless” as students will shake no hands while walking across the stage on their way to picking their own diploma up off a table.
Those unable to attend Friday’s ceremony due to attendance limitations or distance may view the graduation via livestream on the school’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/gmcprepstory.
GMC Prep had a baccalaureate service scheduled for Thursday inside the GMC Activity Center, but that has been canceled since that is an indoor venue.
Other Middle Georgia schools like Washington County High School in Sandersville and Tattnall Square Academy in Macon have held commencement exercises under similar circumstances recently. Locally, Baldwin High School had a virtual graduation for its students in late May and also scheduled a couple of in-person dates this summer. The first of which was originally this Saturday, but the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) suggested that BHS postpone due to Baldwin County being a community with still a “substantial spread” of the disease present. GMC public affairs coordinator Jobie Shields told The Union-Recorder Tuesday that DPH was not consulted when planning graduation, but the school has communicated with city officials and the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency (EMA). GMC Prep’s graduating class has 53 students while Baldwin High’s has more than 250.
