‘It Was So Cool Of Him’: Principal Giving Personalized Graduation Ceremonies

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    MINNEAPOLIS, MN (WCCO) — Jefferson High School principal Jaysen Anderson has a new routine.

“We have spread sheets, and then the day before I Google Map it all and just to double check the routes, and I text message the families saying I’m going to be here,” Jaysen said.

Every day for the past few days, he goes the extra mile or two to properly mark an important milestone for graduating seniors.

“I’m probably 60, 70 hours into this,” Jaysen said. “I’m doing my mileage each day, but I’m well over 1,000 [miles] driving to Coon Rapids, Blaine, Shakopee, Burnsville.”

Anderson has been going house to house giving delivering personalized, at-home graduation ceremonies, complete with the walk, speech, cap and gown. Graduating senior Nicholas Kendall was delighted by the effort.

“It’s crazy. I didn’t know it would be this big, I just thought he’d hand it to me,” Nicholas said. “I’m really, really happy I got to walk down an aisle-slash-driveway.”

Nicholas’ father, Tom Kendall, says Jaysen is going above and beyond to give this senior class the best graduation experience possible.

“It’s a big moment in their life, so to not celebrate it in some kind of formal way like Jaysen is doing would be a real mess,” Tom said.

Jaysen says he himself was surprised by the interest and demand for his personalized ceremonies.

“When I started, I thought, ‘Who really wants the principal at their house?’” Jaysen said. “But we had about 210 sign up.”

Graduating senior Makaila Weingart is very happy she signed up, too.

“It was so cool of him. I think this is a really cool idea,” Makaila said.

So yes, this year’s seniors may not get the ceremony they deserve, but their accomplishments are not going unnoticed. Principal Andersen is making sure of it.

“You never know the impact that any of us can have, and you just do your little piece to make your corner of the world a little bit better,” Jaysen said.

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