A COVID-era innovation is now a graduation tradition for a charter high school in Key West, where on May 17, the Class of 2024 throttled across Key West Harbor on jet skis to accept their diplomas.
Somerset Island Prep principal Tom Rompella, perched in a black gown aboard a jet ski, handed out the scrolls with a mechanical gripping device while families and friends cheered and snapped photos from the nearby Sunset Pier at Ocean Key Resort.
The commencement ceremony started traditionally enough, as 30 graduates (two were absent) processed in a line to their seats on the pier, where speakers discussed the students’ accomplishments and the possibilities still to come.
At the direction of headmaster Nick Wright, the class donned life jackets under their gowns and boarded jet skis donated by Fury Watersports, which has sponsored the event since it began in 2020 when social distancing requirements demanded an alternative solution.
