Cruisin’ Class of 2020
Just as the day began to cool down on Friday, a large group of local
graduating seniors gathered in the parking lot across the street from
Giovanni’s Pizzeria to celebrate their final year as a high schooler
the old school way, with a nice cruise down Olive Avenue. With packed
seats and decorated vehicles, the cruise served as a way for the
students and their families to commemorate their accomplishments while still staying safe and social distancing.
The idea was sparked by Adriana Candleria-scheer who saw other cities
doing cruises for their seniors, so she organized one and encouraged
seniors from every local high school in the area to come out and have
some fun. Students from Strathmore High School, Citrus High School,
Monache High School, Porterville High School and more were eager to
hit the road on Friday evening.
Even the Porterville High School Rally Wagon was out cruising down
Olive, honking and waving as seniors passed by. Proud parents sat on
the sides of the street holding large handmade signs for their
children, and cheering every time a decorated car would roll past
them. The cars themselves were painted with chalk paint and strung
with colored balloons, indicating which high school the seniors inside were from. The long line of decorated cars would drive down to Villa Street
the window while others outright hung their bodies out of the windows closest to them or popped their upper halves out of sunroofs, all with giant smiles plastered to their faces.
Mary Herrera-sell, a staff member at Porterville High School and the driver of the Rally Wagon, was just as excited as the students to be out on the road Friday evening.
“It makes me feel really good,” said Herrerasell. “I love to be honoring all of our graduates. It doesn’t matter if they’re from high school, junior high, kindergarten, it just makes me feel really good.
But the nice thing is this isn’t just for Porterville, it’s for all of our students. That’s what I like about this. It just makes me feel good to give the students a chance to just go on a cruise. It gives them a chance to let everybody see them on the road and celebrate.”
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cruise served as a way for the students to come together, while still practicing social distancing and staying safe.
“It’s family fun, something everyone can do together. The community support has been amazing,” said Candleriascheer. “This has been amazing for our kids and I think that we do need to remember that they are our future. I mean they were born under stress already, and now they are our future. You know, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and these are some tough kids.”