DRIVE RIGHT UP!
Seniors are on a roll — literally — at drive-in graduation ceremony
A drive-in, socially distanced graduation ceremony amid a pandemic that closed schools might not have been something the Saugerties High Class of 2020 ever imagined, but the 181 seniors in the class made it an event like no other.
A procession of 230 vehicles settled onto a soccer field at the school Friday evening and faced a large screen set up to show the speakers. And for student Aidan Trees, there was something special and stylish about sitting on his grandfather’s 2014 Can Am three-wheel motorcycle to do take it all in.
“Being that nothing like this has ever happened before, it’s kind of one in a million,” he said.
Trees said the mile-long procession of vehicles that looped around the Cantine Field sports complex before entering the nearby high school grounds helped “preserve the tradition.”
Graduate Michaela Smith, likewise, said the ride helped students replicate the camaraderie usually experienced at a traditional graduation ceremony.
“No one can say they had a drive-in parade for a graduation
before, so we get to be the first,” she said. “But there is the downside of not being able to sit near my friends, and ... a solo cap toss doesn’t cut it.”
Retiring Principal Thomas Averill said Friday’s graduation was the most significant of his career because of the willingness of the community, staff and students to quickly pull together an alternative to what usually is held.
“It’s totally different, but it’s more exciting than the norm,” Averill said. “There is nothing that comes remotely close to this. It is the most high-tech graduation we’ve ever had and the most organized that it’s ever had to be. I’m really happy for the kids.”
The graduates received their diplomas by driving (or being driven) up to a small stage, getting out, walking across the stage, and then getting back in the vehicles.
Graduate Jeramiah Brown was among those expressing some disappointment at how the ceremony had to take place.
“It’s incredibly odd,” he said. “I wanted to be with my friends.”