My name is Justis MacMaster, and I am a Grade 12 student attending Springbank Community High School.
Today (Thursday May 13) we were told that every school in the Rocky View Schools division is only allowed to have online graduations and nothing else.
It deeply saddens me to think that my 13 years of schooling have led up to this point, especially considering that even last year, Springbank Community High School had a drive-through grad for the class of 2020.
The Rocky View Schools board has given no freedom to any school to make choices about how they want to proceed but instead told everyone that we are not worth the effort of trying to make something work.
This pandemic has hit everyone extremely hard, especially the class of 2021. Not only was our entire senior year taken away from us, but we have had to survive switching from online and in-person multiple times.
As a senior graduating from high school in the middle of a pandemic, I understand that there is no way to have a completely normal graduation.
However, I would think that we at least deserve the memory of walking across the stage and grabbing our diplomas as everyone else has done before us.
Thank you for your time,
Justis MacMaster
