These past few months have been tough. Extremely tough. We’ve watched so many things get cancelled or postponed, and our way of life has been completely flipped upside down. I know I’ve cried, and I’m not the only one. So many milestones have been celebrated differently, events that we were all looking forward to not happening. THE LIST GOES ON!
We’re all in the same boat, but there is one group that has had a huge milestone and celebration cancelled on them. The Class of 2020.
Prom and Graduation can’t happen, they can’t celebrate with their friends and family the 13 years of schooling they have completed, and enjoy what so many of us have gotten to experience.
I graduated last year. From an almost 19 year old perspective, I can tell you prom is a little overrated and is just a fancy dance ; grad is long and sweaty in a crowded hall with a bunch of people. But in the moment, when you’re getting ready to dress up and hang out with your friends for the day, and dance the night away, it is so important. Prom and graduation are two of the biggest moments that students have been waiting for since kindergarten; all through elementary school and high school, those were the end goals. And having them taken away from you, as well as a bunch of other stuff, is super tough!
But…
That did not stop some local grad committees from celebrating these important milestones in a socially distanced way.
My day started making swag bags. A lot of them. Why? Because I had been asked to take part in the PGSS drive-thru grad!
I went to DP Todd’s drive-thru prom two weekends ago, and had a blast. It was supposed to be a big day for all of them, and they couldn’t celebrate the way they were supposed to, so the grad committee took charge and organized a drive thru for them. It was cool to see the grads smiling. And today at PGSS was no different.
Cars drove through, many of them decorated, full of families with grads getting their swag bags. Seeing the smiles on their faces was really nice, despite the circumstances.
I hung out at PGSS for quite a bit; taking pictures, talking to the mom’s that organized the whole thing, and smiling because they took a negative situation and made the best of it.
Okay, now I need to talk about the cars. Those cars were SO DECORATED! Like WOW. The students really put in a lot of effort and they all looked SO COOL! These are a few of my favourites:
After spending some time at PGSS, I made my way over to DP Todd. But, I had to grab some food first because I was really hungry.
When I got there, the parking lot was getting full. People were grabbing signs and getting pictures taken (in their decorated cars), and for the most part, people were smiling. Something was being done to celebrate their big day.
I was grabbing pictures, talking with grads and organizers, and my heart was getting fuller and fuller.
Then, I was asked to take part in the grad parade they were doing throughout town! I was so pumped. I love parades. And being able to celebrate this with them was super special.
After all the pictures were taken, and everyone was ready to go for the parade, we were off.
The best part of the parade? Driving through town and people honking and congratulating the grads. It was so cool! It put a massive smile on my face and it was really REALLY amazing to be a part of it.
Once the parade was over, all the grads honked their horn at the same time. I was doing my radio report in the middle of it, and you can hear it. It was really quite special.
I was on Cloud 9 all day today. The way the PGSS and DP Todd grad committees made the best of the situation, really made me smile and my heart so full.
Congratulations to the grad class of 2020. Good luck in the future!
Sylvia, the FunChaser
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