Erin high school students set to graduate together after all

ERIN – It’s been a tense few weeks for Grade 12 students at Erin District High School (EDHS).

For a while, it looked like the teens would not be able to celebrate their high school graduation the way they wanted to: together. 

But on April 16, principal Francis Noventa announced the school was abandoning an unpopular plan to split up this year’s graduation ceremony and returning to the status quo. 

The ordeal began about six weeks ago, on March 11, when EDHS families received an email informing them that instead of a large celebration, the school was going to split the graduation into thirds, with a portion of students and families attending each event due to limited seating “in our newly renovated theatre.”  

This was a particularly hard blow for the group, as COVID-19 lockdowns meant they didn’t get proper elementary school graduation ceremonies either. 

EDHS deputy prime minister and Grade 11 student Keira Perot said students had no idea there were issues until they saw the email,  which made it sound like the new plan was set in stone. 

She said they didn’t get any input, which “especially outraged the students.”  

Grade 12 student Andie Walker said the situation felt “like a slap in the face.” 

The idea was for students to select the same graduation ceremony as their core group of friends, but students say it isn’t that simple. 

Many have grown up together since preschool, and a lot of connections have formed over the course of those years, Grade 12 student Quin Mullen said. 

And the ceremony is set for June 24, the day after exams finish, meaning it will be the last chance the students have to be in the same room together, Mullen added. 

Community is especially important in small towns like Erin, Perot said. And it may be the last time some of them see each other, she noted, as many are set to leave for college or university. 

High school graduation is a big deal, said Grade 12 student Emma Klein Hermelink – an end to a significant chapter of their lives, and a day they want to spend surrounded by their people – all their people. 

“I have plenty of friends who are not part of my core group who I still care about deeply,” Klein Hermelink said.

“They’ve been there for me through hard times, and I want to be there for them at graduation, as a simple way to pay them back … I want to see them close this chapter of life – I want to celebrate them, cheer their name and give them a high five.”

Students said they brought their concerns to school officials but were ignored, so they started a petition that garnered over 100 signatures.  

Mullen, one of the students to create the petition, said he’s been asking around, and not one student he spoke to supported the change to split the ceremony.

The March email also stated graduates will be allowed a maximum of three guests each at the ceremonies, whereas last year they were allowed four.

This poses a challenge for many students, especially those with blended families, including Mullen, whose parents are divorced and both have new partners.

“It’s not fair on students to pick and choose,” Klein Hermelink said. 

Students were told the school doesn’t have the resources to accommodate a large ceremony for everyone – but it’s unclear exactly what that means. 

They said they were told there’s a safety concern with the risers, or portable stages, but these are being used for other school events so they don’t understand why it is a  problem.

“Students are deserving of an answer,” Perot said. 

But on April 16, the day before Noventa was set to sit down with a reporter, the tide changed. 

“Through collaboration with partners at Centre 2000 we have been able to address some ... logistical issues that led us to planning for a possible alternative format,” the principal stated in an email to the Advertiser. 

In an email sent to EDHS families the same day, he stated “through collaboration with our partners at Centre 2000 we are able to return to a large single format for our graduates,” with a second, smaller ceremony offered for students who pick that option instead.

That’s the same as what the school offered in previous years, and what the students have been pushing for all along. 

Noventa did not immediately respond to the Advertiser’s requests for further comment, and it’s unclear whether students will be allowed to bring more than three guests.