Finances & Money

COVID-19 Affected Graduation

My daughter graduated from high school this past weekend. It was a life milestone for her, but unfortunately COVID-19 affected graduation both in how we celebrated her achievement and how much it cost.

COVID-19 Affected Graduation Ceremony

Instead of the traditional graduation ceremony with hundreds of people piled into an auditorium, a drive through ceremony was planned. As we entered the school campus, a sign with our daughter’s name was put on our windshield. Faculty lined the designated route through the parking lot, cheering her on. Once we got to the front door, our daughter got out of the vehicle. She was directed onto a stage, where her name was read over a loudspeaker. After receiving her diploma from a gloved principal, her picture was taken next to a stone statue of the school’s mascot. Then she got into the car, and we drove off.

COVID-19 Affected Graduation Celebration

Since our state government is currently asking residents to keep social gatherings to 10 people or less, we couldn’t host a large graduation party. Instead, we had 4 mini parties. We invited different groups of family and friends to specific 3 hour time slots spread across two days. We weren’t able to include as many people as we would have liked, but it was great to see the people that could make it.

Graduation Food To Go? Not Quite

The food menu we put together was typical of what you expect at a graduation party, however, the presentation was not the usual buffet style. Everything was prepackaged by myself, wearing gloves and a mask. By having only one person prepare the food packages, the chance of exposure to COVID-19 is greatly reduced. However, putting everything into single serving packages did increase the cost of the overall graduation celebration:

• Tableware: With gloves on, I assembled plate, fork, napkin combinations and put them single layer on a table at the head of the food line. This prevented guests from grabbing plates from a pile, plastic forks from within a box, or touching multiple napkins. No additional cost was incurred here, as it was all about presentation.
• Ham and Turkey Buns: Each sandwich was placed in a single use plastic sandwich bag, and placed in a large tin roaster with generous spacing. This allowed guests to grab a sandwich without touching any of the others. Cost of a box of sandwich bags: About $5.
• Food In To Go Containers: The following items were put into single serving to go containers of varying sizes I purchased from a restaurant supply store:
  • Potato Salad
  • Fresh Fruit
  • Pub Mix Snacks
  • Peanuts
  • M&Ms

All of the to go containers and their lids cost me about $35.

More Work But Worth It

High school graduation is a life milestone that deserves to be celebrated. Waiting until larger gatherings are allowed may take months, and just wouldn’t mean as much because it would be so removed from graduation day. My wife and I found a way to honor our daughter and include our family and friends. It may have been more work, and cost more money, but it was worth it.

How about you, Clever Friends, have you had someone celebrate a graduation during the COVID-19 pandemic? Did you host a celebration?

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Check out these additional Clever Articles:

• How Much Cash Should I Give As A Graduation Gift?
• 5 Ways To Save Money On A Graduation Party
• I Saved My Neighbor Over $400 On A Graduation Party