Trends & Graduation News

Find the latest trends and solutions actual schools are using to celebrate their 2020 graduates.

View our High School Graduation Solutions here and Solutions for Universities and Colleges here.

Virtual Celebrations

OU to Honor December Graduates in Virtual Ceremony

• Our very own Candid Color Photography is partnering with OU to graduates to give them the chance to create personal recognition slides
• Graduates can download their slide and publish them to social media
• Plus, graduates will receive commencement boxes to help celebrate

Purdue’s winter commencements to celebrate accomplishments of Class of 2020

• Pre-recorded virtual commencement to include guest speakers
• Grads will receive a “commencement in a box” – includes diploma cover, commencement program, earned honors cords & medals, and a few Boilermakers goodies
• Each student will have their name called – graduates are encouraged to take photos of their families watching and post on social media

University of Nevada, Reno holds virtual graduation for spring and winter graduates

• Virtual commencement ceremony for spring graduations in the morning and summer/winter graduates in the afternoon
• Cap & gowns were sent to students homes to wear during graduation
• Names were announced as friends & family watched the ceremony online
• Commencement messages and musical arrangements were pre-recorded and played during the ceremony

University of Oklahoma schedules virtual ceremony graduation

• Names of graduates will be announced as their photos and degrees are shown online.
• Graduates are encouraged to wear their caps and gowns in photo submissions.

Penn State to recognize class of 2020 with virtual ceremony

• Graduates and their families are invited to watch a live stream as the University recognizes each student.
• The ceremony will feature formal remarks, musical performances, and shareable digital slides.

University of Pittsburg’s Virtual Graduation

• The online celebration of 8,000 graduates will feature music and videos.
• Congratulatory messages will be shared and award winners will be announced.
• Viewers have the option to watch from a variety of channels: Facebook Live, YouTube, or the YouTube app on a smart tv.
• Graduates/community are encouraged to share content on social media leading up to the event with a hashtag.

Drive Thru or Drive Up Ceremony

George County High School will hold drive thru graduation ceremony

• Two separate drive thru ceremonies with take place between a two day period.
• Students are given two tickets allowing two vehicles to join in the graduation procession.
• The vehicles will stop in front of a stage, where the graduate will exit the vehicle and walk across the stage to accept their diploma and have their photo taken.

Social Distancing Ceremony

(in groups of 10 or less)

Western Heights Graduates in Oklahoma City will prepare for pre-recorded graduation ceremony

• Graduation will be pre-recorded with 10 students at a time.
• Graduates will walk across the stage while their names are announced and picture taken.
• Videos will be edited together and posted to social media.
• For a surprise, all speeches will be done privately.

Ceremony with only students using social distancing

Cadets graduate in scaled-down ceremony at Air Force Academy

• Held without an audience.
• The cadets marched 6 feet apart to chairs spaced out across a field.
• 36,000 people watched the ceremony from an academy live stream.

Honoring seniors in other ways

The PTA joins forces with teachers to deliver yard signs to graduating class

• Local PTA and school staff combine efforts to purchase signs for 400 graduating seniors.
• The sign does not include an image of the student. Instead it reads “Saxon Class of 2020, #SaxonPride” in school colors.
• Parents and teachers surprised graduating seniors by spending the morning placing them in their yards.

Local Albany, NY Photographer creating yard signs to honor graduating seniors

• Parents, along with School Districts are purchasing them for the entire class.
• The signs include pictures of the students (the photographer takes most of the senior pictures in the area) – if she doesn’t already have their image they can upload one they like.

Southeastern Oklahoma State University honoring spring graduates online

• Graduate’s friends, family, and university community are encouraged to leave a written/video message for graduates online.

Delayed Graduation Ceremonies

Edmond Oklahoma Schools Announce In-person Ceremony

• School officials have booked the local convention center for in-person ceremonies over 3 different dates. Two of the ceremonies will be held in July with a 3rd date in the fall.
• In the mean-time the district is purchasing yard signs to commemorate graduates.

Modified In-Person Ceremony with a Virtual Celebration

Arkansas High School Plans a Clever Social Distancing Ceremony

• The school will hold an individual ceremony for each student where their immediate family is invited to join.
• Their names will be called and they will walk across a stage to receive their diploma.
• The school has hired a production company to video each ceremony to piece together for a full graduation video.
• The film will be shown at a drive-in movie theater at a later date.

Gulfport High School Announces Alternative Plan to 2020 Graduation

• Seniors are scheduled a time to report to the school with up to 4 family members.
• A professional photographer will take their cap and gown picture.
• Video will be taken of each senior walking across the stage and pieced together to create a full graduation ceremony.
• The video will be aired on the school website.

Panama Schools to Stream Graduation Video at Local Drive-in

• Photographers and videographers were on-hand to capture the graduation.
• Graduates practiced social-distancing while parents and family members peeked through windows.
• A full video will be shown at a local drive-in at a later date.