Jiffy Lube Live has gone from being the hot spot for summer concerts to now hosting all three Fauquier County high school graduation ceremonies. While Liberty High School (LHS) has hosted its graduation at Jiffy Lube for the past couple of years, Fauquier High School (FHS) and Kettle Run High School (KRHS) have recently joined in. Both FHS and KRHS will begin the construction of a new turf field installation. Due to this installation, the fields will not be able to be used for sporting events or graduation. The configuration of the new turf field is a very long process that involves correct weather conditions and temperatures, which makes the timeline fall during graduation season and the following summer. Graduation will be held at Jiffy Lube Live on May 22, at 2:30 p.m., for the graduating class of 2025.
While graduation is celebratory, it also involves a well-organized set of plans and instructions. “[Principal] Dr. Ferguson went first to view and walk the venue to see where we would be. [From there] we’re following a lot of what [LHS] does, which has helped a lot in our planning processes. It’s just getting the faculty and staff to understand their new roles,” stated Assistant Principal Diana Story. The administration of FHS has been working diligently to make this graduation memorable for all. With hard work and dedication, they will replicate previous graduations to the best of their abilities with the traditions that are well-known and loved. “We want what’s best for the students at the end of the day. We’ll still have some of the items that have always taken place… It’s just gonna be a different venue. We want to have some of those traditions that have been started, to continue,” Principal Dr. David Ferguson explained.
A change from previous years is the faculty’s involvement with the ceremony. “Because of [graduation] being at Jiffy Lube, the faculty and staff are gonna be able to be more involved in the actual ceremony versus working [the] parking lots… They get to see our students walk across the stage,” stated Ferguson. With the staff more involved with the celebration, there is hope that graduation will still have that sentimental feeling. “I think for our staff, it’s an opportunity to enjoy the moment in the day and to get to see our students walking across the stage. I think that’s a big piece, because our educators do so much for our students,” said Ferguson.
This new location for graduation comes with a bittersweet feeling. With most of FHS’s staff graduating from our very own field, it’s harder to accept that it will be changing. As Story stated, “I think it’s [around] 55 of our faculty that graduated from Fauquier… So for them, it’s hard. Trying to embrace that [change] is hard.” She continues saying, “Though it brings a new light to a situation. It’s about those people who graduated from here and what’s been done previously. The change is good, I can embrace change.” Because Kelican Field is undergoing turf construction, in the following years, graduation will most likely be held off campus.
