Wake County high schools finalizing graduation plans

At Athens Drive High School, graduation will be broken up into three groups; two of those will be in person at the school's football stadium. Principal Stephen Mares says it's important for students to be recognized for their hard work, especially after the year they’ve had.

“We’re trying to make lemonade out of lemons,” Mares said. “Families will sit podded together, six feet apart from each other. We’re offering four tickets for each family, so the four family members will sit together.”

Students will be masked and six feet apart on the field. And for those who aren’t as comfortable in a large group settings, the third option is a walk-through ceremony.

“Students will come in with their families, one at a time into the auditorium, and get a chance to have their name read and walk across the stage," Mares explained. "It won’t be the band playing but it will be a nice, more intimate setting."

Graduation ceremonies will also be live streamed for those who didn’t get a ticket. Despite the changes, Mares says, there’s a lot of excitement.

“We’re actually having a ceremony and the kids are going to be able to participate and walk across the stage and maybe have a little bit of sense of realness in a year that hasn’t had a whole lot of familiarity,” he said.

Because every high school in Wake County has different stadiums and capacities, each school will get to decide its own graduation plans.

Mares says these plans are all depending on Gov. Cooper’s orders, and while they are set in stone right now, things can always change.