A virtual presence for soldiers abroad

OREM — Alta High senior Whitney McKinnon spent the year wishing her dad could watch her graduate.

Thursday, technology made her wish come true.

Images of McKinnon's graduation ceremony were transmitted to Afghanistan, where her father, Steve McKinnon, is helping fight the war on terrorism as a member of the Utah National Guard's 19th Special Forces.

McKinnon never got to see her pop.

But she's sure he saw her, wearing her silver cap and gown, draped in red and gold cords for high honor roll and National Honor Society achievements. With any luck, he also heard principal Mont Widerberg introduce him as the ceremony's honored guest, and the audience's applause that brought tears to his youngest daughter's eyes.

"I guarantee you he was crying," Whitney McKinnon said, "and probably smiling."

Other Utah National Guard members serving in the Middle East have been able to see their children graduate from high school, thanks to Internet technology.

Chief Warrant Officer Tom Williams has set up video teleconferencing equipment, or in some cases used universities' existing streaming Web technology, to cover high school graduations.

Facilities involved so far include Brigham Young University, South Towne Expo Center, Weber State University, Utah State University and Utah Valley State College, where Alta's event was held.

The project was born when a soldier serving overseas mentioned the possibility to National Guard officials in Utah, asking to watch the graduation of an offspring. As requests came in, Williams contacted sites where graduations were to be held.

"I think it's great," said Lt. Col. Brad Blackner, spokesman for the Utah National Guard. Many soldiers have been away from home for a long time, he said, and a child's graduation is "a significant, emotional event in a person's lifetime."

John Kowalewski, media relations director at Weber State, said a soldier who enquired has a son graduating from Clearfield High School this evening.

Clearfield's pomp and circumstances and the graduation ceremonies of eight other area high schools are taking place at WSU's Dee Events Center. All will be photographed live via Webcam and posted on the Internet.

Jody Lake, manager of the Dee Events Center, contacted technical experts about how to fulfill the request, he said. WSU's multimedia center puts its own twice-yearly graduation ceremonies on the Web, and Lake learned it would not be too difficult to do the same for the high school graduations.