Woodland Public Schools celebrates graduates

WOODLAND — Students at Woodland Public Schools celebrated graduates of all ages despite the pandemic. Columbia Elementary School’s Early Intervention Special Education Preschool staff visited their students. For each graduate, staff held car parades featuring their seven decorated cars. At each home, teacher Patricia “Patty” Morgan and three assistants cheered each graduate and brought balloons. Lewis River Academy, a home school program, serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Caleb Osorio is the school’s first full-program graduate. TEAM High School, the district’s alternative high school, came up with a new approach to still hold the ceremony but also respect social distancing. They celebrated one graduate at a time, as they and their family would come to the high school to receive a diploma. “One of my favorite things about our small school is how well we get to know our students as those personal relationships are crucial to our students’ success,” said Elizabeth “Liz” Vallaire, TEAM’s math and science teacher. “Email is so much less personal and not getting to watch my students work through problems in-person makes it much more difficult to gauge what kind of learner a student is.” Woodland High School will hold a virtual ceremony on July 10 to be live-streamed on YouTube.