It’s a “lawn sign” of the times! Graduation season is here, and it’s time to very visually congratulate the Class of 2024 on their momentous milestone. But Walt Whitman Principal Dr. John Murphy wanted to be able to congratulate this year’s seniors in a more personal way. So he went back to a recognition that developed out of the Covid 19 pandemic, and because families in the South Huntington School District loved it so much, he decided to bring it back even though schools are operating normally again.
Instead of students picking them up in the main office, ‘Congratulations 2024 WWHS Graduate’ lawn signs were hand-delivered to all 505 seniors’ homes in the South Huntington School District by Dr. Murphy and his high school administrators on Saturday, May 18th. “With 505 students graduating, you’re never going to be able to connect with every one of them. This is a way for us to hopefully get that little two or three minutes to say, ‘Congratulations, you did a great job!’ And parents never get recognition for their child's graduation so this is a way to also congratulate the parents. That's why we're doing it this way. So there's a personal touch,” said Dr. Murphy.
Dr. Murphy was joined by assistant principals Jon Varlamos, Dr. Scott Muller, Alexandra Andrade, Jose Castillo, Dr. Kendall Richards, Supervisor of Guidance Corey Blair, and attendance officer Michael Zaharios. They paired off, jumped into four vehicles, grabbed more than 200 signs for each dynamic duo, and spread out across the school district.
After methodically mapping out their different travel routes street by street - they’d drive up to each house, beep the horn, jump out and put the sign on the lawn. Then it was back in the vehicle and on to the next house. Seniors’ families had been notified by the school via email that a special delivery would be made on May 18th, so some parents and students were waiting for the educators as they drove up. In those cases, there were hugs, handshakes and photos. For houses where no one was home, the sign was posted prominently on the lawn and a letter of congratulations was left in the mailbox. Then it was on to the next house where the process would start all over again!
Thanks so much to the Walt Whitman High School PTA for donating the lawn signs that applaud our 2024 graduates’ achievements!