SCOTTSVILLE – It’s an honor normally reserved for student-athletes – that day when high school graduates sign with the team and college of their choice, officially close the chapter on their high school careers and look with excitement to whatever the future might hold for them.

This year, Allen County-Scottsville High School decided to break with tradition and extend that recognition to its entire graduating class, whether students plan to attend college, join the military or go straight to work after high school.

Postsecondary representatives, local business leaders and military recruiters were all invited to attend the ceremony at the school Wednesday.

“We want to celebrate all of our students,” said Laura Carter, college and career counselor at Allen County-Scottsville and at the school district’s tech center.

In a school year dictated by the coronavirus pandemic, students missed out on some opportunities their predecessors got to experience, like a career fair some students regularly use to sharpen their networking skills and even land jobs, Carter said.

“They’ve missed out on so much this year,” Carter said. “We’re going to try to make it as special as we can for them.”

After earning their diplomas, the high school’s graduates plan to take divergent paths. Several plan to continue their education and study architecture design, health care, culinary arts and horticulture, Carter said. Others are enlisting in the military, and, thanks to the industry certification pathways Allen County-Scottsville offers, Carter said, many are going straight to work. Several students earned welding certifications and nursing credentials through the high school’s nursing career pathway, which Carter said is popular with students.

Other students are pursuing trade professions, whether that means learning through electrician, plumbing and HVAC apprenticeships or going to electrical lineworker school, Carter said.

Regardless of which path students choose to take after graduation, Carter said school staff want what’s best for its graduates and hope to watch them lead fulfilling lives.

“We’re so proud of all of our kids no matter what they decide to do,” Carter said.