Caught on Camera: Sprinklers interrupt high school graduation ceremony

By Patrick Phillips | June 10, 2020 at 11:03 AM EDT - Updated June 10 at 1:16 PM

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Wednesday morning’s graduation ceremony at Ashley Ridge High School will surely be one the school and the Class of 2020 won’t ever forget.

The in-person ceremony began at 7:30 a.m. at the high school’s Swamp Fox Stadium. In the middle of the ceremony, as principal Karen Radcliffe was introducing the school’s valedictorian and salutatorian, the sprinklers went off, drenching the students who were sitting spaced apart across the athletic field.

It happens at the 47:10 mark in this video that was live-streamed by the school district.

But it was an illustration Radcliffe gave students moments earlier that might just have prepared them for the surprise.

She gave an illustration of someone walking with a cup of coffee who gets bumped into or has their arm shaken, resulting in the coffee spilling from the cup. She then told the Class of 2020 to think about what is in their cups when life “comes along and shakes you.”

“Whatever is inside you, whatever’s inside that cup will come out, it will spill out. It’s easy to fake it until you get rattled or you get tested,” she said.

No one expected a “test” to come that quickly.

Moments after the sprinklers were shut off, she joked, “Hey, y’all complain about the heat, we bring you water,” adding, “We have to keep it exciting around here.”

Graduation continued on schedule with Radcliffe touching elbows with graduating seniors as she handed out diplomas.

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Photo: Dorchester County School District 2 via Facebook