TCTC to hold graduation at Eastwood Field

Students to be limited to two family members at ceremony

CHAMPION -- After having to cancel the 2020 graduation ceremony because of the coronavirus pandemic and other conflicts, Trumbull Career and Technical Center officials have found a way to make sure this year's senior class has one.

Mary Flint, director of the TCTC, said they have worked out arrangements to hold the ceremony 7:30 p.m. May 17 at Eastwood Field in Niles, home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

"We felt really bad last year when we were not able to do the event for the seniors. All the schools were facing challenges on how to hold graduations. This year we have found a new venue for the event. We are very excited to be able to do this," Flint said.

Past graduations have been held at Packard Music Hall with large crowds attending as all 20 county school districts send students to the career center.

TCTC Superintendent Jason Gray said school administrators discussed various options to hold the ceremony this spring following social-distancing guidelines.

Flint said besides the challenge of finding a location last year for the event, many of the home schools that also were trying to find graduation sites created other conflicts for TCTC.

"We did not want to create a problem or impose on what the home schools were doing for the seniors," she said.

Some districts held graduation ceremonies at drive-ins and football fields.

Flint said the Scrappers have been a great partner for TCTC, and several students in the center's multimedia and production class have worked for them.

Plans are for multimedia students in teacher Kris Doran's class to take video of the ceremony and broadcast it for those who can't attend. Flint said considering they have around 400 to 450 students graduating, they will limit each student to two family members only as guests. She said students will be spaced apart on the field, and parents and staff will be spaced apart in the stands.

"These seniors have been through a lot having to deal with the coronavirus pandemic during part of their junior year last year and now during their senior year. We want to make this special for them,'' she said.

The event usually starts at 7 p.m., but has been moved to 7:30 p.m. to allow for fireworks at dark at the end of the ceremony, Flint said. A raindate of June 1 was set.

Flint, who has been with TCTC for 22 years and in the past several years as director, said she looks forward to the ceremony because she is retiring June 30.

In other business at the February board meeting, Debra Davis, board member for Newton Falls, reported because of retirements in the marketing, Air Force ROTC and public safety programs, modifications will be made to the three programs.

She said the marketing program was restructured to allow students in other programs to take part in running the market.

Gray said with the retirement of a law enforcement instructor, the police and fire program in public safety no longer will have police training and strictly be firefighter / emergency medical technician training. He said law enforcement training is offered at Kent State at Trumbull.

He said the ROTC program is looking at possibly adding satellite locations at Lakeview and Champion schools for students not at TCTC who are planning to enter the Air Force.

Gray said the satellite locations were not able to be done this year due to the pandemic.