Answering the doorbell and being greeted by the vice-principal and principal of your school could be frightening for any Grade 12 student.
However, Paige Howden was delighted and honoured to be greeted by Foothills Composite principal Vince Hunter and vice-principal Derek Markides on May 26 to celebrate her graduation.
“I think it was really nice,” said Paige, who was fighting back tears. “We get to feel like we are graduating without the actual ceremony.
“Mr. Hunter told us how proud of us he is and he really enjoyed our time together and was sorry we couldn’t have a grad ceremony together.”
Hunter and Markides are making a road trip to rival a Trooper tour in order to greet each of the approximately 380 members of the Foothills Composite-Alberta High School of Fine Arts Class of 2020 at their door.
Markides is also the Grade 12 student administrator and has worked closely with the graduands the past year.
It’s part of trying to take the sting out of not having a graduation ceremony due to COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are apologizing that we can't have the grand finale with them -- telling them that we miss them," Hunter said. "We are telling them how proud we are of them, just like as if they were on the stage. We are also letting them know our hope and desire is to come together as an entire 2020 grad class to walk that stage and celebrate together."
There was an initial plan to have potentially 13 students meet at a home to cut down on the number of visits. However, that became a logistical nightmare and could have compromised COVID-19 regulations. As a result, Markides and Hunter are visiting the grads' homes.
The grads are greeted with a complete package.
“The package has a cap and gown and a certificate from our school,” Hunter said. “And a QR code so they can send us pictures of their families so we can put together pictures of celebration when this is all done.”
All of the packages are isolated for five days before being presented to the students to prevent any contamination from COVID-19.
As for the cap and gowns -- the students get to keep them.
Markides and Hunter are visiting the homes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The first home was visited on May 25 and they hope to be done by June 16.
"We are going seven days a week, for the next three weeks to get to every student," Hunter said.
There is one obstacle -- being a principal or vice-principal is a full-time job with plenty of meetings.
"We are kind of doing it on the run," Markides said. "We have our laptop with us, chiming into Zoom meetings. We're just juggling. We won't see our families for the next three weeks."
Being a composite school, the grads live throughout the Foothills. The Dynamic Duo will visit High River, Turner Valley, Black Diamond and as far as Airdrie to meet the students.
After a day of knocking on doors, they are doing paperwork and other administrative duties.
The visit and the staff's effort overwhelmed Paige’s mother Crystal.
“It’s super special that they are coming around and doing all this for the grads,” Crystal said. “It was devastating that they weren’t going to have their own grad and prom.”
Dad Carlin said it adds to the small-town charm of Okotoks.
“It shows community, it shows that they care,” he said. “It shows that they are not just at a job, it’s because they love it.
“And that shows in the education they (the students) receive."
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