Page 22 - Salesianum - Distinguished Gentleman - Summer 2020

WHERE MODERN MEN BEGIN
about a live event. It has energy. When I think about graduation,
I think about the electricity that courses through the building that night. That’s what we hoped we could capture by keeping it live.
We had some experience with our livestream Masses, which began in late March, giving us some time to iron out the kinks. In early May, we did a Virtual Sports Banquet, which added a bigger audience and more recorded elements. Pulling that
off was the final proof of concept needed to know that some of our ideas could fly.”
Conveying the precision, emotion, and elements of surprise that are
the hallmarks of a Salesianum graduation is only possible with creativity, grit and a team of teachers and administrators committed to producing a ceremony that fully lived up to all previous versions.
A group of nearly two dozen
was tasked with orchestrating Baccalaureate Mass and graduation, creating pre-recorded segments and working with students distanced in small groups to capture speeches and other elements.
While most Salesians are familiar with the cadence of graduation, which includes a Thursday evening Baccalaureate Mass and Friday evening graduation, a new wrinkle was added this year — Senior Homecoming — which brought students and their parents to campus on Wednesday evening to drive a circuit that included a sendoff from teachers, and culminated in picking up the iconic uniform of a Salesian
Gentleman, the white dinner jacket, and a commencement kit, which helped physically link students to the virtual ceremony.
Could the kits be part of future graduations? “The kit was every
bit as much a part of the ceremony as anyone at the microphone — it was an expression of the school’s spirituality and culture, wrapped in a gold bow,” says Father Beretta. “Whether it’s the letter from teachers and alumni, or the custom school flag, or the candle with the graduation date that matched the candles in the gym, I think most of the items in there will be treasured for a lifetime. And of course, they
For seniors, the Senior Homecoming wasn’t their first trip back to campus since March 13. Earlier in May, seniors were issued timed entries into the building to retrieve their personal belongings from lockers. While on campus, they were invited to put their signatures on the final steel beam for Abessinio Stadium, which days later was placed atop the emerging structure in the presence of several local news outlets. It was just another way the class of 2020 is leaving their mark on the House of Sales.
20 DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN | Summer 2020