Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Faith Lutheran seniors get diplomas at speedway amid virus

Faith Lutheran Graduation At LVMS

Steve Marcus

Family members of graduate Gracie Parker arrive in a 1965 Lincoln Continental during a Faith Lutheran High School graduation at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday, May 22, 2020. Seniors listened to speakers via a radio broadcast in their cars, then received their diplomas and took a “victory lap” around the track.

Faith Lutheran Graduation At LVMS

Conor Moore poses in his pickup truck as he waits for the start of the Faith Lutheran High School graduation at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday, May 22, 2020. Seniors listened to speakers via a radio broadcast in their cars, then received their diplomas and took a Launch slideshow »

Immediately after giving his valedictorian speech, high school senior Philip Root, still clad in his cap and gown, climbed into a borrowed race car and drove up to the finish line at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

With the yellow tassel of his graduation cap flapping in the wind, Root leaned out the window and posed for a photo as he accepted his diploma — and then took off on a celebratory lap around the track.

Root gave his speech over the radio from the broadcasting booth, which the graduating class of Faith Lutheran High School listened to as they sat with family in individual cars decked out with signs, banners and balloons. Then, in front of the empty grandstands of the racetrack that’s been idled for months due to the coronavirus, Root led his classmates as they pulled up one-by-one to the waving checkered flag to get their certificate from administrators wearing face masks. To mark the milestone, the students and their families whooped and cheered and then hit the gas pedal.

The ceremony was part of a growing push by high schools across the country to find a way to hold in-person graduations and offer up some added pomp amid the coronavirus pandemic. The graduation ceremony is seen by many as salvaging a school year in which many haven’t seen classmates for months and missed out on traditional senior activities such as proms and end-of-school parties.

There are still many schools that have settled on virtual graduations — something that’s drawn online petitions from students and parents demanding traditional commencements be held later in the year if social distancing rules are eased. Some of those virtual events have attracted famous speakers, including President Barack Obama who gave a commencement address earlier this month. The television special featured other celebrities, including NBA star LeBron James, actress Yara Shahidi and actor and singer Ben Platt.

But for schools pressing ahead with in-person graduations, that has meant coming up with creative ways to holding events while adhering to limitations on crowd sizes and social distancing guidelines. They are spacing students apart in big auditoriums with limited guests, or in one town in New Hampshire, sending seniors off with a mountaintop graduation, accessible by chairlift.

Faith Lutheran CEO Dr. Steve Buuck said a few parents pushed back against the idea of having the school’s graduation on Friday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, urging the school to postpone and hold a traditional ceremony.

Buuck said he understands that, but the school wanted to find a cool way to honor their student’s achievements in a time when large, multi-generational gatherings like high school graduations are considered too risky.

“I think — like all Americans — we all just want some normalcy,” he said. “Lord willing, we’ll be back in a normal venue next year,” he said.

Faith Lutheran senior Sanniyah Haye said she was disappointed when she learned the original graduation plans would be canceled and travel restrictions kept family from attending.

But after two months without seeing her classmates, she was happy to reunite with them for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, even if it involved posing for socially-distant photos, “standing 6 feet away kind of reaching for each other in our caps and gowns and smiling,” she said with a laugh.

“I can’t be more proud of us for finally getting to the finish line,” she said — no pun intended.