By Molly Seales
All across America seniors are missing out on many things that they have been looking forward to all of their lives. Along with those things is their graduation. For those seniors, graduation marks a new stage of their life. Members of the class of 2020 were born during a tumultuous time in American history-the aftermath of 9/11. They are graduating in an uncertain time-during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Riverdale Academy, May 14 was supposed to be graduation day for our seniors. Although the seniors will still have their moment and graduate at a later date, the seniors’ families, friends, and the faculty at Riverdale wanted to do something special for them on what would have been their graduation day. Mrs. Stacey Greer, the secretary at Riverdale, along with others came up with the idea to have a parade in honor of the seniors, so as always they got together and got it done.
On the day of the parade, the seniors’ friends, families, faculty at Riverdale, and even dogs all came out to show the seniors that they weren’t alone. Faculty member Kelly Azlin designed each senior a yard sign, and these signs, along with chairs, were placed “six feet apart” on the front of the Riverdale playground. Seniors found their spot and waited for the parade to begin.
Many of the seniors were not really excited about the event due to their feelings of being robbed of graduation, but as the parade began, their faces began to light up and laughter could be heard across the parking lot. People painted their cars and made posters and bought banners all in support of the seniors. A couple of truckloads of boys’ basketball players came through. The riders wore t-shirts that had a picture of Jackson Riggs, their lone senior teammate. Some people even brought confetti cannons and balloons and silly string to pop and spray at the seniors. Parade goers also bought the seniors candy and gifts. With a total of 142 vehicles going through, the parade was a huge success. This event showed what we mean when we say that Riverdale is one big family!
This year is Riverdale Academy’s 50th anniversary, and some people have been discussing making this a new tradition since it was such a success. We’ll see what happens next year. For now, we wish the best of luck to our class of 2020!
