Page 12 - Newsletter_Winter_2020

Graduation Week
Graduation in the Spring of 2020 brought several
challenges as we were faced COVID-19 and the state
mandated stay at home orders. As an administrative
team we began to look at ways that we could celebrate
our seniors and bring some normalcy to them in
the best way possible. Newly appointed as principal
at the time, Tim Tweedie, came up with the idea
to create a “graduation week” in which there was a
special event broadcasted or taking place each night of
the week.
"... much more special and
hands down more memorable..."
The week began as usual with Monday night’s
Last Chapel. We asked that presenters send in a
recording of the announcement and awarding of each
scholarship. Fred Grant '88 spent tireless amounts of
hours recording and editing a wonderful production
that we had rave reviews about, many even stating we
should always have a remote Last Chapel.
Tuesday night the senior slideshow was broadcast via
Facebook. A touching tribute to our seniors including
baby pictures, pictures of childhood adventures, and
school pictures of events and field trips. This tradition
has been going on for several years and always proves
to be a tearjerker.
PAGE 12
By Erica McGary Tweedie '00
Wednesday night was where we really had to get
creative. Luckily Mr. Tweedie was up for a challenge
and knocked it out of the park. At the time, the
entire nation was in quarantine, Hollywood shut
down, professional sports put on hold. Tim came
up with the idea that he would attempt to reach out
to celebrities, professional athletes, and well-known
figures and see if they would send a short message to
our HHS graduates. Hundreds of emails, messages,
and communications were sent out by Tim. At first,
thinking it may be a long shot, and then to his shock,
he received an email with a clip from tennis great
Billie Jean King. Tim continued to reach out to as
many people that he could. In the end, he was able to
put together a video of well wishes for Houlton High
graduates with messages from Billie Jean King, Dr.
Anthony Fauci, Senator Susan Collins, Senator Angus
King, Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, Dr. Nirav
Shah from the Maine CDC, Governor Janet Mills,
Brian Baumgartner, reality TV stars, and many others.
The video was broadcast on Wednesday evening and
went viral within several days. The students and
families were blown away and the news of the video
traveled around the state. The Bangor Daily News
even did a cover story on the video. If you have not
seen the video, check it out, it is a must see. It can
be viewed on YouTube by searching “Houlton High
School Class of 2020 video”.
Thursday brought our culminating event of
graduation. The graduates participated in a
motorcade through the community in which
families were encouraged to cheer from their lawns.
The parade led the graduates and their families
to the drive-in graduation ceremony at Houlton
International Airport. While it was not the traditional
graduation ceremony in the Millar Civic Center, I
would argue that it was much more special and hands
down more memorable for all involved.
www.houltonalumni.com