Although this year's event looked different to previous years, here at the MET we were determined to ensure that the graduation ceremony was a special moment for our Class of 2020 graduates.
For all Grade 12 students, this event is a milestone, but even more so for our MET students who are the last graduating class in the Ciudad del Saber building overlooking the Panama Canal, as we move to a new campus in Green Valley in November of this year.
We had planned a ceremony and were forced to modify our plans due to Covid-19 and the strict lockdown measures in place in Panama City. However, we are very proud to be able to host not one, but two virtual graduation events for our special 'Class of 2020'.
In early June, Faculty and students gathered for an online lunch and prize giving ceremony before inviting family members and guests to join for a pre-Graduation livestream online event.
Family, friends and faculty all came together virtually for a ceremony filled with music, laughter and round up of memories made during their time here. These memories have been captured on a website with videos and photos uploaded onto a graduation website as a reminder of the good times and there is even a special song written and performed by a member of staff to inspire our graduates on to do greater things: surprise gifts and we think it really gave an extra something to the photos, which we are excited to share with our community.
Our “Year of Changes” has meant altering many planned events, including the actual Graduation, but it is fitting that the unique Class of 2020 collected their High School Diplomas from the famous MET “tunnel”. One graduating student remarked that his MET journey began in the tunnel back in 2011 with the first MET assembly so it was fitting for his journey to end in the same place with the collection of an IB diploma! Observing all the social distancing measures, we arranged individual diploma collections in the tunnel and our students all took away a memento of Panama as their graduation stoles contained local “mola” embroidery. The MET Class of 2020 can proudly say that they are the only students to have the Panama Canal as a backdrop for their graduation photoshoot, as we used this as a unique backdrop for this unforgettable photoshoot in our last year at the current school site. Our amazing Graduation Committee arranged for all the students to take away surprise gifts and balloons.
On June 27th, our formal graduation ceremony proceeded as it normally would but in a virtual setting, including valedictorian, salutatorian, and student representative speeches, teacher addresses, a slideshow including unexpected video messages from the graduates' (which had us all in tears), and of course, the presentation of awards and the MET diplomas. As always, this year’s MET graduation ceremony was emotional, personalized, intimate, and just as memorable.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s graduates have been faced with additional challenges in addition to their final year of study at the MET. From March to June 2020, the Class of 2020 saw the last months of their final year of high school take place virtually, with all learning online. All of the celebrations to mark the end of an era; the traditional MET “Senior Walk” through the corridors, the High School Prom, and even their IB examinations, had to be cancelled. Instead, our 12th Graders found themselves at home, having to deal with a lot of changes whilst also social distancing from their classmates. We are so proud of the way in which all our students have risen to this sudden challenge! The entire MET community is proud of your achievements and wishes you well as you move on to the next chapter to pursue exciting new adventures. You will go down in the MET’s history as a truly remarkable Class of 2020— resilient, flexible and simply unforgettable.
Go MET Jags!
Metropolitan School of Panama
