Displays of support
Parents decorate Tokay fences to honor grads
Anyone driving north on South Ham Lane would be hard-pressed to miss the colorful, fun display honoring the Tokay High 2020 graduating class. The fence adjacent to the football stadium is filled with congratulatory posters, mostly in the school’s purple and gold colors.
“Hello Sunshines! I miss you so much! Love, Ms. Peterson,” reads one sign. “We love you Tigers! Stay safe!” reads another.
But the biggest display is the one organized by the Tokay Sober Grad Committee parents.
“Tokay class of 2020” reads a large banner, decorated with star-shaped purple and gold balloons. Underneath it the names of every graduating senior is printed out, shielded from the elements by page protectors.
“We just wanted our students to be recognized and we’re proud of them,” said Sandra Bonham, a committee member and the mom of a graduating senior. “We want our kids to be excited. We know it’s been a difficult year for our graduates, so we’re just trying to post something positive and include everybody.”
Parents pulled together and gathered office supplies from their homes to make the display happen, LeeAnn Sterni, mom of graduate Carter Sterni, explained as she hung lights by the display. She donated the lights and someone else donated the balloons. Sterni said they are going to use the sober graduation money to purchase T-shirts for the graduates.
In addition to the display on the fence, parents pulled together and had a large “congratulations to seniors” banner printed. It hangs in front of the school on Century Boulevard.
As Sterni was hanging lights, senior Zane Patton arrived and found his name in the large display. He grinned as he pointed at it while having his picture taken. The 18-yearold then walked over to the large Tokay High sign in front of the school, where he donned his purple cap and gown for some more senior photos.
“Well, it definitely sucks (not having a traditional graduation),” he said. “We may not have a graduation, we may not have the experience, but at least we’ll have something. And we’ll definitely have something to remember this by, that’s for sure,” Patton said.
And Tokay High principal Erik Sandstrom, along with the rest of the school staff, is trying to achieve just that.
“We are kind of doing a three-prong thing here,” he explained. “We have a virtual graduation which will be out on Wednesday afternoon (May 27), we’ve got speeches from the valedictorian, school board members, myself, and others, and a montage of all the senior pictures, and also pictures that the seniors have submitted.”
The school is also doing a drive-through procession on graduation day, he said. They will have each graduate drive through the bus circle where they will be handed their diploma through their car window. There will be decorations, a balloon arch as well as name cards that the graduates will hand over as they make their way down the bus circle. Then each name will be read as the graduates are handed their diplomas.
Because of the large size of the class, they will be divided into groups in alphabetical order. He estimated that the first group would start at 8 a.m., and estimated it will run until 1 p.m. Details are still being worked out.
After the graduates receive their diplomas, they can go home and celebrate with their families and take pictures. Gatherings will not be allowed at the school.
“It’s not a big social gathering — people can’t come out and line the sidewalks,” Sandstrom said.
The school is hoping to have some kind of in-person celebration in June or July, if state and county restrictions are lifted to allow such an event.
“If we can have a gathering of any size, we will have some type of actual in-person graduation ceremony in our gym or on our field. It depends on what might be allowed come June or July. We will try to do something in person more akin to what we would call a traditional graduation ceremony,” he said.
Sandstrom said he really feels for the seniors.
“Our seniors have missed out on their final prom, on our senior trip we take to Santa Cruz, the sober grad night that our parents put on that they hold in the gym following graduation that evening. They miss out on all that.
Our hearts go out to them,” he said.
But he is glad to see the graduates persevering and making the sacrifices asked of them, like the remote learning and staying home.
“I know they miss it. They miss being here, which really tells us a lot of how important school is to them, not just the academic side, the social part of it. School is a big focal point of their lives.”
Despite everything this class has endured, Patton has an optimistic outlook for his fellow graduates.
“It’s a crazy year so far and I just hope that throughout the year, it will slowly get better. I just know that my class is strong, and we will stay that way.”