Shepherds College takes their Graduation Celebration on the road
Shepherds College, a three-year post-secondary school for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, will be taking their graduation celebration for the Class of 2020 on the road this month.
President Tracy N. Terrill and several of his staff plan to drive to 20 homes in five different states to deliver certificates of completion and graduation gifts to this year's hard-working graduates.
In a typical year, the graduates would experience, among other events, a baccalaureate, a celebration dinner and a commencement ceremony in their honor. Given the social distancing guidelines in place, all graduation events related to the June commencement had to be cancelled or rescheduled.
"Our graduates deserve to be celebrated in extraordinary ways," said Terrill, "and given the challenges of COVID-19, these trips seem to be appropriate to their level of accomplishment. We will have an on-campus celebration later this year, but I think it is important to celebrate the 2020 Shepherds College graduates now and hopefully, by visiting them each in person, this will be a memorable conclusion to their time at Shepherds College."
The graduation celebration trips will start at the Shepherds College campus in Union Grove, Wisconsin on June 22. The trips will include visits to homes in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio, concluding with a final visit in Virginia on July 2.
The staff will arrive at each student's home with a graduation yard sign, certificate of completion, graduation t-shirts, award certificates and an invitation for the rescheduled December commencement ceremony.
More important that the gifts and mementos though, Terrill states, "I want to let each one of the 2020 Shepherds College graduates know that they matter - they matter to the staff, and they
matter to God. I also hope this simple act demonstrates to their parents that all of us at Shepherds College are so very grateful for the opportunity to work with their students."