Park and circumstance Gateway H.S. Class of 2020 honored at Monroeville Mall
Driving through the Monroeville Mall parking lots Wednesday night, one might have thought there was a Black Friday-type sale. But vehicles there belonged to family members and friends of seniors graduating from Gateway High School. They were parking in the Macy’s lot at the mall to watch their seniors’ graduation.
More than 100 cars filled with excited friends and family members pulled up to the parking lot to wait for the graduates to walk across the stage. Some cars were decorated with balloons and posters congratulating their seniors.
A makeshift stage was placed prominently in front of the Macy’s Backstage entrance, where gold and black balloons floated on each side of the stage. Two podiums of the school’s mascot, the Gator, also stood on both sides of the stage.
Shyreese Guyton was among those parents standing in the front row of the Macy’s parking lot when she received a text message from her son, James McClinton, who was about to graduate.
“He just texted me, ‘Mom, I think I’m going to cry,’ ” Ms. Guyton said. “And I told him, ‘Embrace this moment, guy; you worked so hard for it. Go for it.’ ”
Ms. Guyton said her son also graduated from Forbes Road Career and Technology Center this year, but they had a virtual graduation instead. So she was especially excited to see her son walk across the stage in person.
“This is amazing. I’m grateful and thankful to Gateway and to Monroeville Mall that they even allowed that to happen,” Ms. Guyton said. “This is the same group that was born during 9/11, where the world was grieving then, and now the world is grieving with this pandemic, so to have this is awesome.”
In the fall, her son will attend Lackawanna College and play linebacker on its football team.
Sarah Pulliam was also standing in the front row of the lot in anticipation of seeing her grandson, Jacob Daum, graduate. “I’m just glad I’m able to see him,” said Ms. Pulliam, 79, of Homer City. “If it has to be in a parking lot, it has to be.”
At about 6:45 p.m., cars across the parking lot started beeping their horns as buses filled with seniors pulled up to the adjacent parking lot. “Pomp and Circumstance” blasted through speakers as graduating seniors dressed in gold robes and white masks walked in a single-file line to sit in their socially distant seats in the parking lot.
Principal Justin Stephans led the commencement, with prerecorded speeches by the valedictorian and salutatorian. At about 7 p.m., seniors began walking across the stage as their names were called to receive their diploma covers. As parents tuned into the radio to hear the live announcements of each name, cheers and honks from each car echoed through the parking lot.
Even before the ceremony began, Mr. Stephans said he felt goose bumps while looking at the sea of cars gathering at the parking lot.
“Makes me excited. It makes me feel that all the work was worth it for these seniors,” said Mr. Stephans, who is a 1996 Gateway graduate. “And walking out there in between cars and feeling the vibes and positive comments on how awesome the setup is — it’s very satisfying.”