Graduating this year from ELHS, Ryan Gomillion said the entire class is looking forward to having some sort of graduation. He said he is just keeping the mentality that it's better late than never.

"I would just have to say keep a positive outlook on things,” Gomillion said. “We don't have it the worst. We also got our diplomas, and although not everything went to plan, it's about the journey, not the destination."

ELHS Principal Andrew Wells said the school staff has sent out a survey to the students to gather some feedback from them as to what type of graduation what they would prefer.

“What we've done so far is we've scheduled the graduation to happen on July 19th,” Wells said. “We also listed options that might be available because we are still waiting for guidance as far as the executive order is concerned.”

The first option, according to Wells, is to have the graduation on the football field at ELHS and adhere to any social distancing guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as it pertains to the number of people allowed to gather.

Gomillion said he got an email a few weeks ago that said the majority of his class decided to have a traditional graduation ceremony on the football field. Wells confirmed via text that no decisions were made yet. 

“And if that can't happen, we were thinking about a drive up, drive through graduation where individuals will actually drive up and drive through in their cars, and recognize our students that way," Wells said.  

Wells said the third option is a virtual graduation if the first two options are not available.

During the school closures earlier this year, families from East Lansing Public Schools, or ELPS, participated in an assessment that indicted which families have access to the internet. Through that assessment, Wells said, the school has some data, and if they end up deciding to host virtual graduation, they will probably send out another inquiry to find out if there are any issues related to the internet access for the families.

“The virtual is our last choice,” Wells said. “Our desire is to (host) a graduation that will allow people to gather at our football fields and open space outdoors. But obviously, we're going to need to — and we will — adhere to any guidelines that will exist.”

While the graduation ceremony is currently postponed, the school board is currently reviewing the best possible option to host the ceremony. 

"I also chose (the) football field as the first option,” Amelia Villhauer said. “Although it might be weird because we still have to remain six feet apart, it's definitely preferable because you're still surrounded by people. You still have that support (of) your friends that you've been waiting to graduate with for 12 years. ... I know my mom has also been waiting for this day.”

The survey also asked the students whether they want to have a senior prom and how important it is to them and what dates would work best for them, according to Villhauer. She said she isn’t sure if prom is likely to happen because it will be hard to maintain social distance during the dance.

“It's just really a beautiful last semester, and it makes you proud of yourself,” Villhauer said. “And now you have this pandemic, which makes it very difficult because there's no one to blame …  it's just, this is a virus. It's a very new situation that no one was expecting.”

Some students, however, share a different perspective and are using this delayed graduation as an opportunity to get involved with other issues currently rising in the nation.

“I feel like its an unfair question for anyone in the United States,” Kevarrie Burnett said. “My graduation or anything surrounding it is my last worry because there are things bigger than me right now.”

Burnett said it's unfair for the students to complain about delayed graduation especially with issues like the COVID-19 pandemic and racial discrimination issues that he believes shouldn’t be going on to this day.

“We need to humble ourselves and be appreciative (of) the position that we’re in,” Burnett said. “Not only do we still have the ability to graduate — but we did it in times like these.”