Local high school celebrates graduation ceremony, months after original date

ROSSVILLE, Kan. (KSNT) – Graduations all across the country have been postponed or canceled altogether because of the coroanvirus pandemic.

But a local high school is making it up to their graduates, even if it might not have been what they always expected.

On Sunday afternoon, Rossville seniors and junior high students had their graduation ceremony on the Rossville High School football field. The ceremony was originally scheduled for back in May, but Principal Bradley Anderson said it was canceled because of the coronavirus.

“We actually planned a drive-through graduation earlier on their normal graduation date, but we had to cancel because of everything that’s going on,” Anderson said.

They decided the socially-distanced ceremony out on the field today was their best option. Each graduate was given five tickets for family members to help limit the number of people there, and masks were recommended if they couldn’t socially distance from others.

“All part of the new normal,” Taylor Morelli, a graduate said is for the best.

“It’s been really crazy and unexpected. It’s been kind of hard to stay away from all of our friends and all of our classmates, but it’s to keep other people safe so it’s definitely worth it,” Morelli said. She said even with all of the safety guidelines, it didn’t take away from the monumental accomplishment of finally getting that high school graduation.

“I’m happy and very relieved ’cause you know, this year has just been a roller coaster so we didn’t know if we would ever get a graduation, so it’s nice to finally get one,” Morelli said.

Sunday’s graduation was pushed back in the evening to try and avoid some of that heat, but it did end up raining on them a little bit. Even with all of those challenges, Morelli said the graduation ceremony was just perfect the way it was and is excited for her next adventure at Emporia in the fall.