Honk for the class of 2020! This prairie high school threw a drive-in graduation ceremony
Grade 12 students at Steinbach Regional Secondary School celebrated with a party in a church parking lot
On a cloudy June evening, teachers from Steinbach Regional Secondary School are standing expectantly in a church parking lot. Some of them are wearing reflective vests over their formal attire, ready to direct traffic.
They're waiting for approximately 500 cars to arrive, carrying graduating Grade 12 students and their families. They're also praying that the rain holds off.
This is what graduation night looks like during a global pandemic.
"We're pretty pumped about it, because we're learning on the fly too," laughs teacher Ryan Blight. "How many teachers does it take to do a grad?"
It was only five weeks ago that teachers at SRSS had the idea to hold their graduation in the parking lot of a local church, after seeing that some schools in the United States were throwing tailgate-style ceremonies.
But co-ordinating an outdoor, physically distanced graduation at Manitoba's second-largest high school is not a simple task.
"I'm not sure I was excited this morning, I was very nervous," says co-principal Cam Kelbert. "But there was a time we didn't even think we could do this."
"It's been the worst couple of months," agrees co-principal Sherry Bestvater. "But this is what we do — teachers dancing in parking lots, students cheering each other on, that's what we do for a living. We've missed that!"
Even though we're going through a pandemic right now, I just wanted to have a bright spot.- Isabella Caballero, Graduate
As the cars start to pull in, many of them decorated with streamers and balloons, the excitement starts to build.
Isabella Caballero spent nearly two hours decorating her family car, and couldn't wait to arrive at the unconventional ceremony.
"I just wanted to make my last day as a high school student really special. Even though we're going through a pandemic right now, I just wanted to have a bright spot."
While it might be difficult to resist hugging and high-fiving your friends, students here are taking the physical distancing rules in stride — and are determined to make the best of this once-in-a-lifetime ceremony.
"I'm just happy we can all get together, even if we're all in our cars," says Malachi Dick. "I'm excited to see everyone again, and be together for one last time before we go our separate ways."