Four Plant City High students got to walk and get their diplomas in a small ceremony Monday night.
Plant City High School has proven it’s more than willing to find a way to meet as many unusual graduation needs as it can.
Last year, PCHS’s baseball team played for the 8A state championship at the same time the school’s graduation ceremony was held. The next afternoon, the school held a small ceremony to give 13 graduating seniors — those on the baseball team, plus those who skipped their own graduation ceremony to watch their classmates win the championship — the walk the game caused them to miss.
This year was a little different: COVID-19 pushed all county public schools’ graduation ceremonies back to July, which is when six PCHS students will have already left town to start their military service. Unlike the baseball players and fans, they won’t be able to come back the next day to walk.
“We have six of our students who will be leaving for the military before our July 17 graduation,” principal Susan Sullivan said. “Originally our May 27 graduation date would have covered that. But we didn’t want them to leave without an official diploma presentation.”
So, the school accommodated them Monday night in the auditorium with a graduation ceremony. Four of the six graduates, along with their families, were able to attend.
Sullivan said the school planned the event within a week to get as many of the students onstage as possible, as one is leaving town at the end of this week.
“Not only have they completed their four years, but they’re willing to serve this country,” Sullivan said. “The sacrifice that they’re making only makes it important for us to do something special for just them. We want to present them their diplomas. We want their families to have the opportunity to see them be awarded their diplomas.”
Graduates who were present on Monday include Nehemiah Cofield (Marines), Ricardo Francisco-Alonzo (Marines), Braden-Cade Majors (Army) and Ariana Velez (Marines). The two students who were not able to make it, Dalton Raines and Joseph Hendrix, are joining the Coast Guard and the Air Force, respectively.
