Details of the planned May 29 drive-in graduation ceremony for ACGC students were shared during the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City School Board meeting May 18.
Via a WebEX connection, High School Principal Robin Wall and senior class advisers Misti Johnson and Josh Wellestad told the board about a plan developed by a committee to honor the graduating class. Like all students, the senior class transferred to distance learning for the final weeks of the 2019-2020 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the plan, the cap-and-gown-clad graduates and their families will drive to the high school’s south parking lot in their personal vehicles at 6 p.m. Friday, May 29. A temporary speaker platform and sound system will be set up near the lot, and the Cosmos American Legion will present the colors.
Following customary speeches, the graduates will be photographed receiving their diplomas at a family-only ceremony on two small stages adjacent to the speakers’ platform. Once diplomas are distributed, the vehicles will form a parade led by a school bus and local fire trucks through Grove City, Cosmos, and Atwater, for public recognition in each city. After the graduates return home, they will release lanterns at 9:45 p.m. from their residences, for a virtual group celebration of their graduation.
Information about how to participate in the ceremony has been sent to each graduate’s family.
“We are all doing this apart, but we are together,” Johnson said. The event will be live-streamed under the technical coordination of social studies teacher Scott Hagstrom.
Superintendent Nels Onstad expressed appreciation to the advisers and their committee, who have been dealing with updated guidelines from the state Department of Education on what type of ceremonies may be conducted.
“It is a difficult balance between doing what we want to do and what we can do,” Onstad said.
New business manager hired
In personnel matters, the board hired a new business manager, Wendy Holle, and accepted the resignation of agriculture teacher Madeline Schultz. On July 1, Holle will replace current business manager Kathryn Haase, who has accepted a similar position with the Willmar School Sistrict. Schultz has accepted a position with the Faribault School District; a new agriculture teacher is being recruited.
Haase plans to be with the district until she develops a preliminary budget for the 2020-2021 school year. She and Onstad anticipate a special school board meeting on Monday, June 8, for the board to adopt this budget in a timely manner.
Construction update
Onstad also updated the board on progress on the renovations in progress at both the Atwater and Grove City school sites. There will be additional expenses related to replacing water lines, a tile line and taking care of a few small sink holes at the Atwater site, he said. On the plus side, fire suppression equipment is expected to cost less than originally anticipated.
Since work has begun in the office spaces at both sites, administrative staff is being moved to temporary locations in the high school media center and teachers’ lounge until the project is completed. Summer school programming for special education and other students and for summer child care is being relocated to a leased site in Atwater. Onstad noted that driver’s education will be handled through Google Classroom this summer.
Principals’ reports
Elementary Principal Kodi Goracke said she is working to accommodate both academic and social-emotional needs of her students during this time of distance learning. Despite the challenges, year-end attendance stood at 96 percent. “The teachers are hoping for a regular start for the school year” after Labor Day, she said.
Although changes prompted by the pandemic caused everyone affiliated with the school to change course this spring, it is not yet certain what modifications may yet be needed for the 2020-2021 school year. Several contingencies are being explored. “The best thing would be to have our students back inside our brick-and-mortar walls at ACGC,” Onstad concluded.
The board also accepted donations toward a middle school playground, a supermileage shop project, and for school readiness (preschool) equipment from several community businesses and Bethel Lutheran Church.
