Paris, Tenn.–Henry County High School Graduation is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, May 21st, outdoors at the high school, but with installation of turf ongoing at Patriot Stadium, a change in location has been announced.
HCHS Principal Michele Webb said, “Our plan all along has been to have graduation at Patriot Stadium, and we were in good shape to get to that point. However, the rain has not been kind to us these past few weeks. After evaluating thoroughly this week, we have decided that a change in graduation location is necessary. We are glad that we are able to keep the ceremony on campus as we shift graduation to the HCHS Soccer Field.”
Conducting graduation ceremonies on the Soccer Field ” will provide our students the opportunity to graduate on campus with the fields, buildings, and school within sight. In making the location adjustment, we are also able to increase the number of tickets for each eligible graduate to 8 each,” Webb said.
In addition, the graduation ceremonies will be livestreamed on the HCHS Facebook page for those who cannot make it in person and for the general public who do not have a ticket.
The following is information released by HCHS for graduation:
CONSIDERATIONS PRIOR TO GRADUATION:
**No one (including graduates) should come if they are sick or running a fever, showing other signs or symptoms of COVID-19, or if they or someone in their family has been around or exposed to someone with COVID-19. Alternate arrangements can be made if a student is unable to attend.
GUESTS ON THE DAY OF GRADUATION:
Guest Arrival:
**Guests may arrive no earlier than 5:30 pm.
**Tickets will be required to get in the area close to HCHS.
**To make parking easier, guests should arrive in one vehicle if possible.
**No one will be allowed on campus to place or reserve seats, etc., prior to the gates opening at 5:30 pm. If anyone puts anything down to reserve seats, it will be removed prior to anyone being allowed in the gates.
**Three entrance gates will be available: by the band building, at the soccer parking lot, and at Harding Road between the baseball and softball fields.
**Areas available for parking: tennis court parking lot, the “strip” parking lot between the fieldhouse and band building
**Areas not available for parking: behind the stadium, the soccer lot, and the staff parking lot.
**Some handicapped parking will be available close to the band building on the row by the tennis courts.
Guest Seating:
**Due to limited access to bleacher seating, guests are asked to bring their own chairs. When choosing an area to place your chairs, please keep your group as close together as possible to allow room for all.
**Areas available for seating: around much of the perimeter of the soccer field, the football practice field, by the band building, in the soccer parking lot and a limited area behind the graduates on the soccer field. Approximately 500 bleacher seats will be available.
**Painted white lines on the ground, red/white chain and rope, and signs will provide visible markers of areas that are available for seating. Guests should remain outside of the painted white lines and other seating markers.
**An area for those needing handicapped accessibility for seating will be available on the concrete pad by the band building.
Guests During the Ceremony:
**Restrooms will be available at the baseball/softball concession stand and also in the band building.
**All guests are to be seated before the ceremony begins at 7:00 p.m.
**To allow for maximum visibility by all, guests are asked to remain at their seats during the ceremony unless going to/from the restroom. Children should not be allowed to roam freely.
**During the ceremony, please be mindful of noise levels so all may enjoy the ceremony and their graduate being recognized. Though held outside, the graduation ceremony is a formal event and should be attended in such a manner.
**NOTE: In the event of inclement weather, we would be more likely to postpone the ceremony rather than move inside. Should the event need to be moved indoors, a limited number of tickets will be given to each eligible graduate.
A Live Stream of the HCHS Graduation Ceremony will be available. This will be livestreamed on the HCHS Facebook page. A person does not have to have a Facebook page to access the page. It can be found by going to Facebook and finding the page (Henry County High School — Paris, Tennessee). The broadcast will begin before 7:00 p.m. to allow off-campus spectators to have time for access. Once on the page, the viewer will likely need to scroll down to find the “Posts” section.