Houston’s seniors mark graduation with celebration
Thousands from five school districts gather for the first-of-its-kind event
James Warner’s mother never put limits on her son’s dreams, encouraging him to embrace his personality — quiet, thoughtful, humble — on his path to becoming a high school English teacher.
As he joined Friday’s citywide Class of 2020 celebration, the Wheatley High School senior carried the memories of his mother, Reneisha, who died 14 months ago, throughout the ceremony honoring graduates amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Even if this isn’t the way that my mother would have wanted to see me up there, I still wish that she could have,” Warner said after the evening event on the school’s football field. “Just the fact that I managed to get here for her and all my friends, it makes me so happy. Even if things are weird, it’s nice knowing we finally did this.”
Thousands of graduates from across five school districts in the city of Houston — Aldine, Alief, Houston, Spring and Spring Branch ISDs — gathered at campuses and stadiums Friday for a first-of-its-kind celebration, one of several events aimed at making up for the cancellation of indoor and in-person commencement events throughout the region.
While the proceedings were primarily ceremonial — students were not awarded diplomas and family members were not allowed to attend — the gatherings offered seniors another opportunity to reminisce with friends, teachers and other school staff after nearly three months of shutdowns tied to the pandemic.
In Houston ISD, students
from the district’s 45 high schools returned to their campuses and traveled to district facilities for graduation-style events. The celebrations helped fill the void left by the cancellation of all traditional graduation ceremonies, which Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said could not be held outdoors due to logistical challenges and the district’s size.
At Wheatley High, several dignitaries and celebrities addressed seniors — both in-person and through video messages — as students sat in socially distanced seats, donning purple caps and gowns in the 90-degree heat. On the outskirts of the field, nearly 100 parents, relatives and supporters pressed against a fence separating them from their students, cheering on and honking horns as each graduate’s name was read over a loudspeaker.
“It’s awesome for this to do it for these kids, because they were thinking they wouldn’t have nothing,” said Latristan Zeno, whose son, Jeremiah, joined the event ahead of his expected departure for the U.S. Army.
In Aldine ISD, which still has traditional, indoor graduations set for late July, seniors from each of the district’s nine high schools gathered at W.W. Thorne Stadium. As music blasted over the speakers, seniors topped with graduation caps migrated to separate areas dedicated to their schools, cheering when prompted to represent their campus.
Aracely Hernandez, a senior at Nimitz High School, arrived wearing a custom-made shirt featuring a drawing of her in a cap, gown and face mask and the phrase “Nothing Can Stop Me.” A Spring ISD teacher she met through a PTA group provided the gift ahead of the event.
“I’m the oldest in my family, and it would mean a lot to have something where my parents could come, to have that traditional experience,” Hernandez said. “But something like this, it still really means a lot to me.”
While Alief, Spring and Spring Branch ISDs joined Friday’s festivities, each district already announced plans for in-person, outdoor graduation events in June and July.
The ceremonies came together in collaboration with the administration of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who traveled to three campuses Friday to address seniors. Turner lauded the graduates for their perseverance through Hurricane Harvey and the pandemic, in addition to urging students to create change in light of recent protests gripping the nation over police brutality and racial inequities.
“You all are, indeed, an exceptional class,” Turner told the Wheatley High crowd. “You’ve not given up, you’ve stayed the course, you’re graduating, you’re moving forward. No other class or group of students, in the history of our country, has had to ensure the things you’ve gone through.”