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District 300 finding ways to honor grads now

The 2019-20 school year is ending remotely, but Du Quoin Unit District 300 hasn't given up trying to deliver some special memories for its seniors and 8th graders.

"We're trying to come up with ways to recognize seniors and 8th graders remotely in the next week or two," Superintendent Matt Hickam said Monday.

Hickam is finishing up a slideshow that will trumpet the winners of the Educational Foundation Scholarships - something normally done at an in-person event. He expects the slideshow to be ready by the end of the week.

As well, the district and a local radio station are talking about broadcasting "senior spotlights," short tributes to the 2020 Du Quoin graduates recorded by their parents. Hickam said the details are being finalized but he expects parents will be able to call in and record their own message to their student; or, the radio station can record the tribute for them.

Details are expected to be announced soon, he added.

On Monday night's Du Quoin City Council agenda, the city was prepared to approve street closures for the 2020 high school and 8th grade parades.

That doesn't mean the parades will happen this year, Hickam said, but the city wants to be prepared in case they can be held later in the summer.

"We dreamed they would be held this Friday and next Friday," Hickam said, to coincide with the originally scheduled high school graduation and 8th grade promotion ceremonies.

At the May 21 school board meeting, he said, the board will take up the tentative plan of holding graduation and promotion ceremonies on July 24 and 25, if the stay-at-home order is lifted enough to permit it.