Sophia Hoch of Unity donned a face mask as she accepted a Student Showcase award this month from Latrobe City Council, complying with the pandemic-related requirements.
Masks also will be recommended when she and more than 300 fellow Greater Latrobe seniors attend a belated graduation ceremony, set for June 25, outdoors in downtown Latrobe.
Along with other Pennsylvania schools, Greater Latrobe Senior High finished the final months of the academic year with online instruction as a pandemic precaution.
A similar precaution, against potential spread of the covid-19 virus, caused the district to move the 7 p.m. graduation ceremony from the field at the high school campus in Unity to the larger Memorial Stadium in Latrobe.
In case of rain, the ceremony will be June 26.
“There will be social distancing,” said Jon Mains, principal of grades 11 and 12 at the senior high. To limit attendance and promote distancing, each senior will allowed two guests — down from five as allowed in previous years.
An alternative will be offered for those who want to avoid the gathering.
“If a student doesn’t feel comfortable participating in the graduation, we will meet them individually and hand them their diploma,” Mains said. “There will be an opportunity for their parents to take a photo.”
For family members who aren’t able to attend, the ceremony will be broadcast and live streamed in cooperation with the local WCNS radio station, according to Mains.
Hoch, 17, is the latest Greater Latrobe senior to be honored in Latrobe Council’s semiannual Student Showcase.
Mains praised Hoch for the leadership she demonstrated as secretary of the senior class after the state-mandated closure of schools on March 16.
“She’s been giving us feedback and insight on what the students feel we should be doing with prom (which was canceled) and with graduation,” Mains said. “She’s been a tremendous asset. She’s stepped up.”
During the covid-19 closure, Hoch also established an Instagram page @glsdpositivity, where students and other residents could “post positive things that were happening in the community,” Mains said.
Hoch plans to study chemical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.
