Graduates going out in style

Everything is slowly coming together for the Minneota Class of 2020 graduation ceremony at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, June 26 at K.P. Kompelien Field.
“The class of 2020 deserves this,” said Principal Jeremy Frie. “We’re looking forward to seeing them all together again. This will be the first time the whole class has been together since the shutdown.”
The ceremony will not be open to the general public. Graduates are each being given four additional tickets to use for any guests they would like to invite.
“There are a lot of things we need to get done yet,” said Frie. “And we are still working on some ideas. But it’s all coming together.”
The bleachers at Kompelien Field will be marked off so families can sit together while still maintaining social distancing from other families. With no bathrooms available at the location, outhouses have been ordered for the ceremony.
A sound system will need to be put in place. And with no band because of social distancing, a recording of Pomp and Circumstances will be played during the ceremony.
The public has expressed a desire to be able to see the Class of 2020 together so school administrators are planning a parade through town following the graduation ceremony.
“The kids will be in their caps and gown in vehicles of some sort in the parade,” Frie said. “We’re going to try and have a fire truck and police car leading the parade. We want to make it special for these kids and their families.”
Administrators and the seniors had a conference call recently in order to gauge the thought process of those involved.
“The kids wanted a ceremony, but they didn’t really want to wait until July,” said Frie. “So we decided to have it late June.
“I’m so glad that we pushed this back until June because a lot of schools just ended up having graduation virtually.”
And this graduation ceremony will be special for the 45 seniors since this is believed to be the first one to be held outdoors in school history.
They missed out on many memorable things during their final school year, but the seniors will always remember this special ceremony.