Upper Kennebec Valley Memorial High School graduates are seen at the class commencement in Bingham on June 5, 2016. This year’s ceremony will be a closed event on Sunday because of the coronavirus pandemic. Morning Sentinel file

For the 16 graduates of Upper Kennebec Valley Memorial High School in Bingham, this year’s ceremony will be a closed event in order to follow state health and safety guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Each graduate has been given 15 tickets for friends and family. Beginning at 2 p.m. on Sunday, graduates will file into the gym with two designated guests who will stay in the gym for the entire ceremony, according to Principal Lee Harper.

Lee Harper, principal of Upper Kennebec Valley Memorial High School in Bingham, said, “Because we’re a small school, we’ve been able to make our graduation as close to a traditional ceremony as we could.”  Morning Sentinel file

The rest of the graduate’s guests will watch the first portion of the ceremony from another room through a livestream on YouTube. Guests will be rotated in and out of the school’s gym to watch each graduate walk across the stage and receive their diploma.

After all of the graduates have received their diplomas, they will be escorted out of the gym by their two guests.

Additionally, all attendees will be spaced 6 feet apart and required to wear masks when inside the gym, according to Harper.

Harper said the staff is prepared to sanitize the venue as needed and have gone to “great lengths” to ensure social distancing guidelines are met.

“This class has been very resilient, and they’ve worked really hard,” Harper said. “Because we’re a small school, we’ve been able to make our graduation as close to a traditional ceremony as we could.” 

Harper said at this year’s ceremony, $72,000 worth of scholarships will be presented to the graduates.

Valley High School is part of Maine School Administrative District 13, which serves the communities of Bingham and Moscow.