By: Greta Nerad
Amidst uncertainty about how the 2019-20 school year will close, senior Theron Mandeville started a petition on April 11 to the Manhattan Beach Unified School Board to keep the class of 2020’s graduation in person, rather than online.
According to the petition description on Change.org, the petition was originally meant to be used for reference at the April 15 board meeting, but it continues to gain signatures. Since its creation, about 1,770 people have signed the petition.
“Graduation serves the incredibly valuable purpose of giving students closure,” Mandeville said. “Essential to this is the experience of being on campus, surrounded by the members of one’s community. Therefore, I believe that an in-person ceremony cannot be effectively emulated.”
Though MBUSD did not officially introduce a plan to hold an online graduation, Mandeville decided to start the petition because many high schools around the country have, he said. According to Mandeville, he wanted to communicate to the board that it is the collective desire of the senior class to have an in-person ceremony.
“It was my hope that [creating the petition] would prompt MCHS staff and the MBUSD School Board to show more commitment to preserving the sanctity of graduation,” Mandeville said. “To this end, the petition was successful.”
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