Diploma Day nears for graduating seniors

Posted

It’s cap-and-gown time for high school seniors in Jefferson County.

The first of the high school graduations in the area will be held this Friday in Port Townsend.

Port Townsend High

Graduation-week events for the Red Hawks continue Wednesday for Port Townsend High School, with the End of Year Awards at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 9 followed by the Senior BBQ.   

Held in the auditorium, this is a seniors-only event. (Parents are welcome to view the awards via Zoom at 10 a.m.) Graduation details will be finalized and shared at the awards event.  

A barbecue lunch will be served to seniors around noon. Yearbooks will be on sale, and seniors will have the opportunity to sign yearbooks with friends. 

The Senior Walk in Cap and Gown is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. Thursday, June 10. 

Buses depart for Salish Coast Elementary and Blue Heron Middle School where the Senior Walk will take place outside on the sidewalk. 

The Graduation Day ceremony will be at Memorial Field on Friday, June 11. 

A short mandatory practice is at 11 a.m. at the field. 

The official ceremony will begin at 7 p.m and 87 students will graduate. Melanie Bakin will speak as valedictorian. Salutatorian Stella Jorgensen will also give a speech. The class-selected speaker is Emillia Nunn and the faculty-selected speaker is River Kisler.

After the ceremony, graduates will return their gowns and stoles at the Cotton Building in exchange for their diplomas. 

Grad Night buses will depart from there starting a half hour after the ceremony has concluded. 

Commencement will be filmed for viewing after the ceremony. 

Chimacum Junior/Senior High

Chimacum’s commencement ceremony will be held at noon Saturday, June 12 at Port Townsend’s Memorial Field, where 53 students will be graduating. 

Prior to the commencement ceremony, graduating students will gather at the Cotton Building. Four tickets for entry to the event will be provided to each family of a graduating student.

Chimacum’s Class of 2021 valedictorian Solana Gonzalez, and salutatorian Jason Pina, will address the crowd during the ceremony.  

Following commencement, a community parade will be held starting at 3 p.m., with cars lining up at the Chimacum Junior/Senior High School parking.

Drivers in the parade route will depart the parking lot by turning right onto Highway 19 and then left at the Chimacum Road intersection. Drivers will continue to the four-way stop near the QFC and then turn left onto Highway 116/Ness Corner Road. The parade will then turn left, back onto Highway 19 to pass the school again, where district staff and teachers will be lined up to wave goodbye to the departing senior class.  

Chimacum’s Grad Night will kick off at 9 p.m. at the Finnriver Cidery. The event will include a DJ and dancing and students are encouraged to wear their prom attire. 

Also featured at Grad Night will be a photo booth, yard games, graffiti wall, candy buffet, and casino-style games where graduates can the chance to win tickets for raffle prizes.  

Pizza will be provided to attendees, courtesy of Dented Buoy Pizza, and Finnriver will be operating a soda fountain. Tickets for the event are $20 and will be on sale at the Chimacum High School office until Friday, June 11.

Scholarships are available for students who cannot pay for a ticket to the Grad Night festivities.     

Quilcene High

A total of 23 Rangers will leave the roost this Saturday.

Commencement for the Quilcene Class of 2021 will take place on the school’s football field.

It’s the capper of a busy week for the seniors, which started with baccalaureate  Sunday at the Quilcene Assembly of God.

Graduation starts at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 12.

District Superintendent Frank Redmon will give the welcome and introduction, followed by class speaker Olivia Benson.

Salutatorian McKenzie Smith will give an address, followed by valedictorian Zachary Budnek.

Quilcene faculty will be seated in ceremonial robes and hoods on one side of the bleachers while the board of directors and speakers will be seated on the other.

Seating is limited, and the school said each graduating senior has been given an allotment of tickets for graduation.

The event will be live-streamed on Facebook for those unable to attend in person. The link is https://fb.me/e/1oyAmiWdA.

Quilcene’s “Walk of Fame” is planned for Friday, June 11.

Graduating seniors will put on their caps and robes for the first time and walk through the elementary school to the cheers and applause of kids in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The walk starts at 8:30 a.m. Friday and will also be live-streamed at https://fb.me/e/1oyAmiWdA.  

In other events for students, the eighth-grade promotion in Quilcene, and also the science fair for the eighth-graders, is planned for 4 p.m. Friday, June 11 on the football field. Following the public viewing of exhibits, the class will move to the football field at 5 p.m. to celebrate each student’s advancement to high school. The promotion will also be livestreamed.  

The graduation ceremony for kindergarteners/first-graders is 6 p.m. Friday on the school’s football field.

The event includes the first grade since the students could not have a graduation ceremony last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

School staff said the kindergarten students will be elaborately dressed in gold robes and caps while the first-grade students will be in purple.

For families who can’t attend, the event will be live-streamed.

Field Day is planned for 11:30 a.m. Monday, June 14 on the school’s athletic fields.

This year’s Field Day starts with a focus on the importance of summer literacy, and parents of students in grades K-6 are invited to attend a free picnic lunch. Free books will be handed out as long as supplies last, along with literacy information. The annual Field Day events will kick off at 12:30 p.m.