Jackson School District to honor graduates with televised salute, military ceremony

Three hundred and forty-eight Jackson High School seniors will be recognized from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday on KFVS12 and WQWQ during a virtual salute to the Class of 2020. 

The broadcast, titled “A Salute to the Class of 2020,” will include images of students, some adorned in their caps and gowns, as well as “special messages” from JHS principal Seth Harrell and district superintendent John Link, according to district communications director Merideth Pobst.

The televised salute is not meant to replace an in-person graduation ceremony, Pobst said, but it will serve as another avenue to congratulate the seniors whose final year of secondary education was interrupted by COVID-19.

“We just wanted to do our best to bring recognition and honor to students who have worked really hard,” Pobst said, noting high school graduation is a monumental, milestone achievement for any student. “And even though they didn’t get to finish their year the way they had thought that they would ... we want to provide as much normalcy in that area as we can.”

Six JHS seniors will be honored again at an in-person military graduation ceremony later this month, an event Pobst said is meant to honor students who will have to leave for basic training before the rescheduled commencement ceremony takes place in mid-June. 

In a typical year, Pobst said students entering the military would be honored during the regular graduation ceremony. Holding a standalone event of this nature, she said, is new for the district.

“We just wanted to be sure and honor them with a ceremony so that they’re not missing out on such a lifetime achievement,” she said of the May 22 event.

To limit any risks of exposure to the new coronavirus, the military graduation is closed to the public and only immediate family members will be invited, Pobst said. 

According to the Jackson School District, Wyatt Anthony Darlage, Erin Taylor Huff and Amber Marie Lowes will join the U.S. Army; Jacob Charles Farrar will join the U.S. Marine Corps; and Caleb Scott Anderson and Logan Wayne McClanahan will join the Missouri National Guard. 

Pobst said the rescheduled graduation ceremony — planned for June 19 — is still on, but noted the district is working to finalize details including location and logistics.

“We’re just trying to do a really good job of looking at all that information and putting something together that keeps our students and families safe, yet honors them in an appropriate way.”