LHS graduation aims to provide seniors, parents with a glimpse of normalcy

LACONIA — When it comes to graduation, Laconia school officials were determined to give Laconia High School seniors the real thing — or as close to the real thing as possible during the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Unlike the 146 LHS graduations which have preceded this one, the planning for this Friday’s commencement involved not only input from the graduates and the school’s faculty and staff, but also parents, the City Manager’s Office, the city’s police and fire chiefs, and the local public access media service.

“This is a true community event,” school Principal Michael Fredericksen said Tuesday.

Unfortunately very few members of the community will be able to watch the event in-person at the Bank of New Hampshire Stadium — LHS’s main athletic field.

Aside from the 97 graduates, who will be spread out across the field, the only other people who will be allowed inside the venue will be members of the School Board, school faculty and administration, and the two guests each graduate was allowed to invite to the ceremony.

After enduring months of remote learning, stay-at-home restrictions and shuttered gathering spots, school officials feel they have devised a plan for seniors to experience something as close to normal as possible as they move on to the next chapter of their lives.

“For weeks now they have been hearing about things they can’t do. Now we’ve come up with a thing they can do.” Fredericksen said.

Superintendent Steve Tucker said the strongest message school officials heard as they started to plan the commencement was “parents wanted to be at graduation with their kids.”

Most will be seated in the stands. The rest will be seated in chairs set up on an elevated pathway that overlooks the field.

“The kids wanted to be together as a group,” said Craig Kozens, the school’s athletic director, who believes the event will be a morale booster. “It’s good for the mental health of the students,” he added. “It gives them some degree of normalcy.”

While the students will be able to graduate as a group and have their parents watch as they receive their diplomas, they will have to abide by the restrictions that are designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Their seats will be spaced 10 feet apart and there will be no hugs or high-fives. Also, they will all be wearing face masks.

The ceremony is expected to last between 60 and 90 minutes. There will be speeches by valedictorian Cassie Sousa, and salutatorian Nicole Turpin. Fredericksen, who is retiring as principal at the end of the month, will also speak. The main speaker will be Robert Velasquez, a member of the LHS Class of 2002, who went on to get a fine arts degree, and now works as an athletic coach at the college level and as a group trainer for TB12, a diet and training program developed by former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. He's also a motivational speaker.

Assistant Principal David Bartlett will present each graduate with their diploma covers. The graduates will have to wait to receive the actual sheepskin because the firm which produces them was temporarily closed due to the pandemic.

Present and former community leaders will serve as ushers, including Mayor Andrew Hosmer, City Manager Scott Myers, former Mayor and School Board Chairman Mike Seymour, and former School Board Chair Joe Cormier.

Once the ceremony ends, graduates and their parents will return to their cars for a parade around Lake Opechee. Tucker said the parade route will be Union Avenue, Church Street, North Main Street, Old North Main Street, Parade Road, Elm Street, and back to the school on Union Avenue, where the LHS faculty and staff will be gathered on the front lawn to cheer the graduates as they head back home.

The ceremony will be live-streamed. People may tune into the event at livestream.com/lrpatv/lhs2020. This will also be the address where people may go to watch the event on video-on-demand. Atlantic Broadband subscribers in Laconia may also view the ceremony on Channel 25.