Principal Cramsey Outlines Schedule This Week for Edwardsville High School Students, Families

Dr. Dennis Cramsey

May 18, 2020 9:52 AM Save

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Edwardsville High School Principal Dr. Dennis Cramsey and Athletic DIrector Alex Fox at last year's graduation.

(This is an explanation from Edwardsville High School Principal Dr. Dennis Cramsey of events this week for Edwardsville High School students and families).

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May 18-22 – Diploma Drive-through Event. Seniors may pick up their diploma, honor cord(s) and Senior Awards beginning Monday, May 18 through Friday, May 22 according to the following schedule:

Monday, May 18 – 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, May 19 – 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, May 20 – 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, May 21– 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Friday, May 22 – 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Seniors may enter the circle drive in front of the high school to receive their diploma, honor cords and awards. Please wear your cap and gown. Rick’s Pics will be taking pictures during the Diploma Drive-through Event. You may access photos at Ricks Pics Photography at https://www.rickspicsphotography.com/.

After receiving your diploma, you will exit the circle drive by turning right, and then enter the visitor parking lot. Students and families may exit the car individually, in their cap and gown to have a photo taken. These photos will be taken with your camera.

There will be four stages set up in the visitor lot. Students and families will be able to get out, walk up onto the stage and be photographed. Each stage will have a nice black curtain backdrop, just as would have occurred in the traditional ceremony. I want to thank the parents who are decorating to the stages. Please maintain social distancing from other families. No student group photos with will be allowed.

All stages will remain set up after the morning sessions through the afternoon and prior to the afternoon sessions throughout the day. Additionally, the stages will be set up all day on Saturday, May 23. If rain is present, we will move stages to a dry location so graduates and families are not prohibited from getting pictures.

I want to note the significance of having this professional photo while the student is in their car with diploma and cap and gown. We all know that we are in unprecedented times. This photo will serve as a historical artifact for what was occurring in May 2020 during the height of the pandemic. Five, ten, fifty years from now, this historical world-wide event will be preserved through this single photo. Graduates will tell stories to their children and grandchildren that may seem absurd but can be backed up with the photo.

Nationwide, shipping delays have occurred. We have experienced some delays in receiving all honor cords. Our Jostens representative has done an amazing job of searching multiple vendors to get the honor cords we need. If your honor cord is not available early in the week, we should have it by the end of the week.

Saturday, May 23 – Class of 2020 Virtual Commencement Exercises. The virtual graduation ceremony will be aired on Saturday, May 23, at 10:00 a.m. on a variety of locations including riverbender.com and ECTV. Additional locations for viewing may be added. The virtual ceremony will be archived for future viewing. After viewing the Class of 2020 Virtual Commencement Exercises, you may come to Edwardsville High School for photos. Please keep in mind, it would be expected that all families follow social distancing rules. Weather dependent, we will have stages set up so that graduates and their families may pose for a photo. Families may use this time to take photos if they did not have an opportunity to take photos earlier in the week.

The Class of 2020 Virtual Commencement Exercises will be released on Saturday, May 23, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. at the following sites:

ECTV – Edwardsville

https://www.cityofedwardsville.com/LIVE along with via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thecityofedwardsville

Charter TV on ECTV Channel 993

Madison Communications

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Riverbender

https://www.riverbender.com/

https://www.edglentoday.com/

I want to highlight some special parts of the Class of 2020 Virtual Commencement Exercises.

This virtual event is being professionally produced by a 2012 EHS graduate, Kris Trgovich. Kris has spent countless hours to videoing approximately 8-9 students’ speeches and principal, superintendent and Board president comments. He will spend countless more hours editing and producing the final program.
We will also be honoring student(s) who have passed away during their school days.
Two teachers will be reading names of each graduate as the student’s picture picture is shown in the presentation. Seniors voted for two teachers to be the Honored Readers. I am proud to announce this year’s Honored Readers are Ms. Lane and Mr. Baker.
We will also be recognizing those who have enlisted into the military or have received an appointment to a prestigious military academy.
Most notably, the senior choir students will be presenting, in a social distancing compilation of voices, a performance of the National Anthem during the virtual program.

I could never have imagined the amount of time it has taken to organize, communicate, video, edit and produce this virtual program. But in the end, I believe the virtual program will be a beautiful program.

Other reminders:

Military Enlistments and Military Academy Appointments. If you have enlisted in the military or have received an appointment to one of the prestigious military academies, we would love to know so we can recognize your service and commitment to our great nation. Please send an email to Dr. Schlueter, vschlueter@ecusd7.org with your name and branch or military academy by Tuesday, May 19.

Senior Final Transcript. The Senior Final transcript must be sent via Parchment. PLEASE REQUEST YOUR TRANSCRIPT AFTER MAY 23^RD. Please see the EHS Facebook page for details on how to use Parchment. If you have any problems with Parchment please contact Brenda Ohm, Registrar at bohm@ecusd7.org.

The following summarizes additional senior events and ways we are honoring and celebrating our seniors

Cap and Gown Drive-through event – A couple of weeks ago, we conducted a drive-through event to distribute cap and gowns and other items ordered from Jostens.
On Friday, May 15 – Yearbook Distribution and Senior Tropical Drive-through. On Friday, May 15, from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m., seniors, dressed in their tropical attire, drove through the circle drive to pick up their yearbook. After receiving the yearbook, they proceed to the next station for a photo. I have asked Ric’s Pics to take photos for this event. You may go to www.rickspicsphotography.com to access pictures taken that day. Parents volunteers stepped up to decorate the grounds for this event and will decorate the stages for the Diploma Drive-through Event. This event was well-attended. Senior students had a great time and were appreciative to be on campus and to see friends.
Class of 2020 Virtual Commencement Exercises Program – The program for the Class of 2020 Virtual commencement Exercises will be available on line and will also be professionally printed and sent to each graduate as a memento of their special day.
Faculty/staff Congratulations Video - I have asked the faculty and staff to participate in a congratulation’s video by sending in a short 3-5 second video saying “Congratulation Class of 2020” or something similar. It may be easier if each department could do this as a ZOOM conference video. The administrative team recorded our congratulations video during one of our Friday Zoom video meetings. Two teachers, Levi Antrim and Dene Schickedanz are producing this video and it should be ready by May 22 or 23.
Kudoboard – parents, family and friends are posting pictures, videos and comments on the EHS Senior strong Kudoboard. You may access the “board” at https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/5ucDYS4oto view posts and to add your own personalized congratulations and kudos to the senior class or an individual student. Congratulate a graduate and/or the Class of 2020 by adding your comments, pictures and/or videos to the EHS Class of 2020 Kudoboard by May 22!
Virtual Senior Awards Ceremony – We have compiled all awards and scholarships that are typically presented at the Senior Awards Night into a virtual presentation honoring and celebrating our seniors for their accomplishments. The Virtual Senior Awards Program should e ready by the end of this week. We had some late entries and we will update the program as additional organizations and individuals submit entries after the original release date.
Honor Cords and Senior Awards – During the Diploma Drive-through Event, we will be distributing honor cords. There have been delays in shipping across the country that have impacted the delivery of all of our honor cords. Our Jostens representative has done an amazing job of seeking additional vendors and requesting priority shipping to try to get all cords to us. We should have the remaining few cords ordered coming in throughout this week. Additionally, we will distribute the certificates for the Senior Awards during the Diploma Drive-through Event.
Senior Events Video Compilation – As previously mentioned, Rick Brewer, Rick’s Pics Photography, has been photographing and videoing a number of events. He will produce a video compilation of all events that we will post after all events have concluded.
June Graduation Event - We are still holding on to hope that we will be able to have some type of event in June to celebrate and honor our seniors. A June event will be dependent on the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education guidelines in place at that time. As soon as we know what we will be able to do, we will send information out.