Wayne Hissam graduates from John Marshall High School Thursday. Also pictured is Principal Cassie Porter.

GLEN DALE — Students are walking for graduation in a different kind of way at John Marshall High School, as Marshall County Schools began honoring the school’s 2020 graduates Thursday.

More than 300 grads – 262 students at John Marshall along with 45 at Cameron – form the county’s 2020 graduating class.

Most of those students will have walked across the stage by the end of today. Students were called up in groups of five according to a schedule distributed to the students’ families weeks ago, dressed in their caps and gowns with their photo taken by a professional photographer.

The event was filmed and will be edited together into a complete video where the students will appear to have walked the stage in one group.

Graduating senior Emily Anderson, who was among the top 1% of students in her graduating class, gave the speech for the event where she told her fellow students to stay positive and kind even in the face of adversity, such as the tumultuous last few months of their senior year.

“It’s been hard for everyone, because everyone wants their graduation, but I think the way it worked out, everyone will still see our friends graduate, and it’ll turn out well,” Anderson said in a phone interview Thursday. “We did have a graduation party planned, but we had to … have it pushed back a little bit.

Anderson, a member of Monarch Choir, also sang the National Anthem prior to the proceedings.

“I really tried to focus in my speech on staying positive, and especially how it’s applicable to what we’re experiencing today, but also after we graduate and as we go on to our next step in life,” she said.

“I also tried to focus on being kind to those around you, and how we can benefit from lifting each other up.”

JMHS principal Cassie Porter said the response from parents and students on social media has been very positive, and she was happy that they were able to honor their students despite the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the closure of schools.

“I am really pumped about the final product — it’s kind of a shame we don’t do this every year, because we’ll have something to have forever on DVD copy,” Porter said. “We are announcing the honor students’ stoles, which we don’t normally do, and their graduation picture with me is going to be spot-of perfect because … we have a little more time to stage the photo. There are some upsides to this, though it’s upsetting that we can’t do our traditional walk. … It’s a wonderful memory in the making.”

Cameron High School held its graduation in late April.

The edited video will air on the afternoon of Sunday, July 12 on WTRF. The time slot is to be announced at a later date. If conditions permit, students will also have a formal graduation ceremony at their traditional location at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling on July 7. The video will air regardless.