Coronavirus precautions mean graduation ceremonies in New York are limited to 150 people. That doesn’t work for Brooklyn Tech, with its enormous graduating class.

“A handful of kids shy of 1,500,” Principal David Newman said.

 

What You Need To Know

  • Brooklyn Tech is the nation's largest high school, with nearly 6,000 students.

  • Usually, the school holds its graduation ceremony at the Barclays Center.

  • This year, with coronavirus concerns, an arena won't work -- so they're moving online.

 

Every school has had to find new ways to hold graduation ceremonies, but no school had a bigger challenge than Brooklyn Tech - literally. It’s the nation’s largest high school.

“Normally we do it at the Barclays Center and we actually fill the entire arena in, the stadium seating with parents and loved ones and families, and the entire floor is filled with the 1,500 graduates,” Newman said.

The elements of the ceremony already have been recorded and stitched together for streaming on Friday, including a speech by Yale-bound salutatorian Sunehra Subah. Part of her address will remember popular teacher Andrew Decker, who died unexpectedly this year.

“When I was a sophomore, I had a really fat bookbag as many sophomores do. And he gave me a key to a locker, and I talked about how we sort of give each other our own keys in our own ways,” she said.

It’s that sense of support and community that’s helping ease the sting of a truncated senior year. Sunehra has spent her extra time at home decorating her cap and embroidering her sash. She celebrated in a video chat with friends.

“We actually had a fake graduation the other day where we played really bad graduation music in the background. The connection was off, so it just sounded really slow and funny, and we kind of just walked around in our own rooms in our caps and gowns. So I think we’re just finding comfort in the little things,” Sunehra said.

Newman knows about improvisation. He's run Brooklyn Tech from his basement since the pandemic began. He promised the streamed event would be as close to the real deal as possible.

“We’ll still be singing the alma mater. I will still be telling them to move their tassels from one side to another and declaring them graduates. So we’re trying to replicate the traditions that we’ve had in our school that’s now almost 100 years old,” Newman said.

But since students won’t be visible in real time during the pre-recorded affair, for some, the cap and gown will be optional.

“I think there’s something really cool about graduating in your pajamas too,” Sunehra said.

A memorable graduation in more ways than one.