As the end of the school year approaches, so do many annual events and traditions that LHS holds for its students, including prom and graduation.

This year, given the circumstances of the pandemic, plans have changed for how these events will be held. LHS never had to make such major changes to events like prom and graduation since last year.

According to LHS Principal Tom Koulentes, “graduation will be in person and will be very similar to our traditional ceremony that is usually held at the Sears Centre.”  However, there are many changes that will be made to accommodate the safety of everyone who is participating.

“This year, we believe we can conduct our entire ceremony in person with students sitting socially distanced on the football field. We hope parents will be able to sit in our stands and watch. We think students will be able to hear their names being called and walk across our stage to get their diplomas too,” said Dr. Koulentes.

Dr. Koulentes is hopeful that graduation will go well and added that “the pandemic has made everything we do to plan graduation much more difficult.”

Dr. Koulentes also indicated that there is always a chance that students and parents will need to be flexible with the graduation date in case it has to be changed. “If there is bad weather on [May 27], we will delay graduation until the next day, Friday, May 28,” said Dr. Koulentes. “Aside from that, we don’t plan on changing the date of graduation.”

Senior Melissa Ji is excited that LHS will have “some semblance of a traditional graduation ceremony.”
For many seniors, graduation is one of the final memorable moments of their time in high school.  “For me, graduation is a moment of closure, so it’s definitely a very special moment,” Ji remarked.

She added, “I think every senior right now is grateful for the administration’s work concerning big events like graduation.”

Prom is another event that many upperclassmen look forward to each year. This year, LHS has made plans to hold an in-person event.
“We think that we can definitely create an in-person event for students to come together and celebrate in ways that are safe and aligned with health guidelines,” said Dr. Koulentes. Even though changes have to be made, Dr. Koulentes said he is looking forward to providing this opportunity to students.

While prom is still being planned, LHS has a general idea of how prom will be held this year. Students will attend in groups of 50. The event will last for approximately two hours for each group, as students will sign up for a two-hour time block. Dr. Koulentes added, “During the two hours, the student groups will participate in three different events, which are still being planned by students.” 

Senior Vir Trivedi is one of the Student Council Executive Board members who is helping to plan prom this year. 

“I’d say [planning prom] has been a bit more challenging [than usual], but nothing that we couldn’t handle,” Trivedi said.

Prom is the last school dance that seniors will attend in their high school career, which is why some students find it very appealing.  “I began to realize how fundamental of an experience it is to a lot of people’s high school careers,” Trivedi added. “So I feel like it would be a waste not to go.”