Owensboro Innovation Academy Principal Beth Benjamin has been leading OIA since the doors opened five years ago, but Sunday’s graduation at the RiverPark Center brought something different to her role.
Instead of just welcoming guests as they arrived for the ceremony, Benjamin was also doing temperature checks on every guest that walked through the doors.
“I’ve been in education for 20 years now and there’s always something new coming down the pipeline,” she said. “The way that I’m choosing to look at it is I’m not the one necessarily making the decisions but whatever decisions come our way, we’re still going to try to make it about kids … Even in taking the temperature checks, I try to cut up with them and try to take some of that off.
“The part I don’t like about it is the not hugging part because I’m so proud of some of these kids. They’ve overcome such obstacles and I want to give them a high five or a hug or a handshake. That is much harder than me worrying about the logistics.”
When the ceremony began, the graduates were already in their seats, and their masks covered the excitement of all the hard work they’ve put in for the last four years.
Benjamin said every class is different, but there was something about the Class of 2020 that stood out to her.
“When this group walked in as freshmen, one of the things I could almost instantly tell is how much they cared about people,” she said. “By people, it wasn’t people that were their friends already or who they look like or who they identified with. They are a very socially aware group. If they don’t know about a group, they want to know more and will try to find out.”
The last few months have been a challenge for every student, but Benjamin said the ones at OIA were doing as much real-world learning as those in the real world.
“Our school is based on project-based learning,” she said. “We did not change that when we went to NTI or stay-at-home. I will say that our kids really experienced what most people working from home had to experience.”
Benjamin said despite not being able to learn in the classroom, they were still doing projects, talking with peers and setting up Zoom calls.
“More than anything, I think this group of kids is going to be very prepared for what the world is right now but we’ve always made it our point to make sure the kids are prepared for whatever world comes their way,” she said.
OIA 2020 graduate Justin Holder is heading to Murray State University in a few weeks, as he was accepted to the Honors College at MSU.
Holder said early on he noticed schools doing a drive-up graduation and after a while, he began to think they wouldn’t have a ceremony at all.
“Now that we’re having the more traditional version, it was worth the wait,” he said.
Holder, like most graduates around the country, said COVID-19 was one of the most memorable things about their four years, but he hopes it brings to light other things.
“I think we’re going to remember the small moments,” he said. “By how much it disrupted our lives, I think we’re going to realize a lot more little things.”
