Medway High School continues to celebrate its graduating students with an in-person graduation plus a virtual class day and superlative night despite complications involving COVID-19.

Sam McKeown, the student president of Medway High School’s class of 2020, was initially discouraged when he learned that social distancing rules would deprive his classmates of their traditional graduation, prom, and senior week events. “The work we had done was essentially for nothing,” said Sam, speaking to the time and energy he and his class officers put into arranging senior events. Despite initial struggles with virtual communication and “the extreme level of uncertainty” surrounding COVID-19, McKeown is intent on giving graduating seniors the celebration they deserve.

He said the school plans to hold an in-person graduation ceremony on Sunday, August 2 in Hanlon Field at Medway High School, a socially distanced event open to students and their families. Although the time is to be determined, he predicts it will be in the early morning or late afternoon. The rain date is August 3.

McKeown, along with class officers Tess Donnolly, Ethan Core, Tara Shipos, and Ram Tysoe, also plan for the annual superlative night to be a livestream on Medway Cable Access in early July. Graduating seniors Ryan Wettengel and John Boujnane will host the event and McKeown said he’s “been really impressed by the way they’ve handled it.”

Additionally, McKeown explained that June 7 was used as a day of celebration for graduating students, as this date represents what would have been his grade’s graduation. The day began with students invited to drive to Medway High School to pick up their caps and gowns for graduation. Students were cheered on by their teachers as they received a bag from class of 2020 advisors Melissa Checci and Stephanie Thrasher containing their cap, gown, and Medway branded items, including a t-shirt, stickers, and mints. McKeown was pleased with the turnout, mentioning that students “seeing their teachers the first time since March” made for an emotional moment.

At 7 p.m. that night, a prerecorded collaboration between the class officers, advisors, and teachers, was broadcast on television and Facebook by Medway Cable Access. This two-hour show combined the annual class day and scholarship night events into one program, a night that McKeown said “took weeks and weeks to plan.”

Rachael Peterson, the mother of a graduating Medway student, said the school is “doing as much as can be expected” given the circumstances. She loved the cap and gown pickup, saying it “was great to see the kids smile,” and “thanks to the class officers for trying their best.”

The class officers also organized the “Seniors of Medway Project,” in which they invited members of their grade to send in their senior pictures and their post-graduation plans for next year to be uploaded to an Instagram account. McKeown said the idea was so successful that senior’s names and pictures were displayed on an electric sign outside Choate Park for the duration of May as an extension of the project.

Members of Medway’s class of 2020, such as Alyson Rankin, agree that the school is doing everything to maintain communication and celebrate students’ achievements. “I think they’re doing more than other towns,” said Rankin, recognizing the difficulty in planning events and appreciating what the school has planned.

Although they can’t host senior week this year, McKeown predicts that his grade’s unused class dues will be used to host future class reunions with exceptionally good food at a reduced ticket price.