FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - "Pomp and Circumstance," the traditional graduation ceremony hymn, flooded the ballroom at Fort Wainwright's Last Frontier Community Activity Center April 1, more than a month before local graduating seniors will actually receive their diplomas. This was no April Fool's Day joke. With many Soldiers from the aviation and Stryker brigades deploying this spring, the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District joined forces with the Wainwright garrison to ensure that students who have deploying parents could share the graduation experience with them before they leave.
"It's an opportunity for parents who are deploying to be with their children when they go through a commencement and for children to experience that with their parents," said Col. Timothy A. Jones, Fort Wainwright garrison commander. "It was an important thing to do for Soldiers and families."
The early commencement ceremony, the first event of its kind in the school district and installation, provided parents an opportunity to share in one of the most significant events in their children's lives, said Pete Lewis, FNSB School District superintendent.
"Graduation is a right of passage and every parent should have the opportunity to see their child walk across the stage," he said. "Unfortunately, some of our family members are going to be deployed (during the actual commencement ceremonies) so we wanted to have an event like this so they could celebrate as a family."
School district and Wainwright officials wanted to mimic an actual ceremony as much as possible, he said. Music by the 9th Army Band, a rendition of the "National Anthem" by Silver Chord, a member of the FNSB Board of Education, a welcome address and blessings from Chaplain (Lt. Col.) David VanderJagt, garrison chaplain, and a commencement address from Col. Mark Lowe, U.S. Army Alaska deputy commander, provided an authentic graduation experience for parents and seniors.
Although the twelve graduating seniors who participated did not receive their diplomas at the event -- they still have more than a month of school, testing and other requirements to complete before they graduate -- they did receive recognition, inspirational messages and photo opportunities that have become synonymous with graduation ceremonies over the years, which was more than enough for proud parents in attendance.
"I think this is really something special," said Sgt. 1st Class Erick Mitchell, 25th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. "It's still going to hurt not being there for the real one, but this was great."
"I thought it was kind of cool that they put all this together and decided to do this for the families. I've never heard about them doing this before," said Hannah Marie Mitchell, 19, graduating senior from Lathrop High School and daughter of Donna and Erick Mitchell.
The Mitchell family credits the school district and installation with giving them a priceless memory.
"We thank them for doing this so her father could be a part of it," said Donna Mitchell.
"Even though he is going to miss out on the real one at least he gets to see what it will be about and be a part of it."
Jonathan Franklin, 18, son of Margaret and Chaplain (Maj.) Herb Franklin, 1-25th SBCT, said the ceremony was meaningful to him because of the close relationship he has with his father.
"It's important to me because I would like my dad to be there with me," he said.
"We are calling this the 'heart ceremony,'" Margaret Franklin said. "The other one will be the official ceremony, but this one is the graduation ceremony of the heart; the one that really counts."
Growing serious after joking that he was a little "verklempt," or choked up, when he saw his son in his cap and gown, Herb Franklin said he is grateful for the chance to experience this with his oldest child. "I think this is a great opportunity and better than we had hoped for," he said. "It was one of those moments you look forward to as a parent. It really was very special."
The idea for the early ceremony was born out of a military parent's concern that her husband would not experience their senior's graduation together due to his deployment, said Bridget Lewis, North Pole High School principal.
"A parent came to me earlier in the year who was concerned about the potential of her husband being gone during the graduation and asked what we could do to video stream or record the event," she said. "That made me start thinking about possibilities. I thought it would be really nice for families, before deployment, to experience seeing their kids walk across the stage. It's a once in a lifetime moment and a little bit different to experience it in person."
She spoke with the garrison commander and the joint collaboration began, resulting in the early commencement ceremony.
"The school district played a huge role in this and working with them on this has been a really good experience," said Joan York, Fort Wainwright school liaison officer. "These kids deserve to have their parents at their special moment when they graduate so it's really wonderful that we can work with the school district to make that happen for them."
While this type of ceremony is a first for the school district and Fort Wainwright, the strong collaborative relationship that made it possible has existed for years, Jones said.
"The timing just worked out with the deployments coming so close to graduation," he said. "The garrison and the (school district) administration did a good job pulling together and partnering."
The following graduating seniors participated in the early commencement ceremony: Jessica Nicole Doak, Lathrop High School; Chelsea Lynn Enoch, West Valley High School; Jesse Coleman Flenniken, Building Educational Success Together High School; Jonathan David Franklin, Lathrop High School; Christopher Lee Herrera, Lathrop High School; Mary Elizabeth Holcomb, BEST High School; Lacy Danielle Magee, West Valley High School; Breanna Nicole McCain, North Pole High School; Hannah Marie Mitchell, Lathrop High School; Misha Maria Parson, Hutchison High School; Nicole Ann Wayfield, Hutchison High School; and DeVante R'shan Woods, Star of the North Career Education Center.
In addition to the early commencement ceremony, the school district will also provide DVDs of the actual ceremonies for military families with deployed parents, post videos of the official ceremonies on the school district website, www.k12northstar.org, within a week of the events and is also looking into providing live satellite feeds during the ceremonies for Soldiers in deployed locations, Pete Lewis said.
"We hope that they had a positive experience during this event and can talk about the culmination of their student's high school career and that they have a chance to commemorate together and create a memory," he said. "It was really about making memories."
Students who participated in the early commencement ceremony will also participate in their schools' graduations next month.
The official graduation ceremonies for high schools in the school district will be: Ben Eielson High School, May 16; BEST High School, May 17; Effie Kokrine Charter School, May 13; Hutchison High School, May 18; Lathrop High School, May 16; North Pole High School, May 18; Star of the North Secondary School, May 12; and West Valley High School, May 17.
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