NORTH SALEM, NY — North Salem High School Principal Vince DiGrandi took to the internet May 4 for what was billed as a “big reveal” for the graduating seniors. He prefaced the video by saying there was “Armstrong landing on the moon” and “then there’s this.”
“This” concerned a graduation ceremony for 103 North Salem seniors who, because of the coronavirus, were not really expecting an in-person commencement.
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DiGrandi then introduced advisers Gina Kappes and Kristin Doherty who were filmed wearing caps and gowns. They had the privilege of telling the grads that there would be no virtual commencement. It would, instead, take place — in person — at the Four Brothers Drive In Theater in Amenia in Dutchess County.
“Graduation 2020 Quarantine Style” is set to happen at 8:30 p.m. Monday, June 22, Kappes and Doherty told the students.
Graduating seniors and their families will load into their cars, make their ways up Route 22 to Amenia where they will be treated to a unique outdoor commencement, complete with pizza for everyone.
DiGrandi said he and his staff had been trying to find something they could do for the graduating class that had it spring semester upended by the global health crisis.
They stumbled across Four Brothers Drive In Theater on social media, called the owners, who said, sure, and set the date for June 22.
Adjacent to the drive-in is Four Brothers Pizza Inn, a popular Amenia restaurant. It could provide each car, of which there would be about 90, with one pizza and soft drinks.
DiGrandi said the graduation speeches will be presented on the big screen and then everyone will settle in for a movie under the stars.
He said the reaction from the students and everyone else has been “insane.”
“It made your heart feel good,” DiGrandi said. “We say it’s for the kids, but it worked out.”
The icing on the proverbial graduation cake was the announcement earlier this week that Gov. Andrew Cuomo was including certain “low-risk” businesses that could open as of Friday, May 15, when New York Pause officially ends.
Those businesses included landscaping and gardening and outdoor recreational activities such as tennis and drive-in movie theaters.
“We breathed a sigh of relief” when we heard that, DiGrandi said.
Graduating senior Emmet Halton said he’s seen other virtual graduations and was hoping that his wouldn’t be one of them.
He said he was totally surprised by the announcement.
“It’s such a creative idea,” Halton said. “I think it will be really good to have a final event to mark as closure for our high school career.”
“I am super excited to see how it goes,” he said.
DiGrandi said the graduates will all be given masks to wear that say “2020 Quarantine Graduation,” printed along with the North Salem logo.
Senior Kayley Decina said she was excited and relieved when she heard about the plans for graduation, adding that she assumed they would be having a virtual ceremony.
“We are a small school, and so most of us have been together since kindergarten,” she said. “It was so upsetting to think we were potentially not going to celebrate his big milestone together in the same place.”
Decina said she knew from the second she heard the announcement that it would be an experience she’ll never forget.
“I thought to myself that this might even be more memorable than a typical graduation ceremony,” she said. “It is even more special because we are able to see how much our administration cares about us and how hard they were willing to work to make sure that we still felt some normalcy and got to experience a real graduation.”
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