Calexico High graduates its class of 2020
CALEXICO — Calexico High School on Thursday began the first installment of what proved to be a necessary two-day process to graduate its 2020 senior class.
With 688 students set to graduate and social distancing rules the local law of the land, the school elected to do the job via drive-thru events held over two days.
Students with last names starting with letters A through K received their diplomas on Thursday, while L to Z students will receive theirs today.
Thursday’s ceremony took place at 7 p.m. on the parking lot of Ward Field. The event was also streamed on Facebook Live. Today’s ceremony will follow the same timetable and format.
Each Bulldog entered from the parking lot’s south gate in a vehicle with their family members. The exited their vehicles (one student at a time), picked up their diploma and walked across a stage.
A photo was taken of each graduate on stage, and that photo was provided free of charge to the graduate.
The graduates then returned to their vehicles, and exited through the north gate.
The two days mark the final sendoff for CHS’ 107th graduating class.
While the class of 2020 does hold the distinction of being CHS’ first class to have a drive-thru graduation, it was just shy of being school’s largest graduating class.
That distinction belongs to last year’s class (693 students).
Nonetheless, CHS’ administration and staff did their best to provide the 2020 seniors with a memorable ceremony while still following the statewide and county health guidelines.
They even used the same stage that is typically used in the school’s normal commencement ceremonies.
Prior to the event, the school issued a safety guidelines sheet with 13 bullet points that every graduate was expected to follow during the drive-thru graduation.
One of those bullet points was that “vehicles used during the ceremony should not be a convertible or an oversized vehicle (no limousines, party buses, large tires trucks/monster trucks, etc.).”
Another bullet point
was “each graduate may have the number of family members in her/his car that equals the number of factory-installed seat belts within the vehicle.”
One other bullet point was “all graduates will remain in their car with the windows up (AC on) before, during and after the drive-thru” — a guideline that those who can’t stand the heat during this time of year likely appreciated.
The rules work – there were no overcrowded, convertible monster trucks with lowered windows at the graduation.
Instead, the responsible parents and guardians of the CHS seniors lined up in their decorated vehicles peacefully. Calexico Police Department units did stand by in the area to ensure that a proper flow of traffic was maintained.
Thursday’s ceremony included the top 20 students from this year’s class, as well as the ASB officers. They were first in line.
By 7:05 p.m., 56 vehicles were lined up along Belcher. The ceremony began with the playing of the school’s usual commencement song over a PA system.
CHS’ principal Gabrielle Williams then took to the microphone to
greet and welcome her students, as well as their parents and guardians.
She didn’t say much, as she had already said plenty during the school’s virtual graduation, which livestreamed on June 11.
Instead, she insisted that the main sound of the night should come from parents and guardians, as she asked them to begin honking and cheering from their vehicles at the start of Thursday’s ceremony.
“Let’s keep the noise going, Bulldogs!” Williams said. “Congratulations to everyone!”
Calexico top seniors
Ricardo O. Ozuna Miranda Franco
Juan F. Baltazar Jocelyn Beltran Leon Sebastian I. Ramirez Erick A. Brito Alexandra Garcia Sergio R. Caldera Yahir Rodriguez Emily Martinez Vanessa J. Kilps Emmanuel E. Serrano Kathia Lara Olivas Javier A. Melara Julissa Cecena Fernando Rubio Torres
Javier A. Guerrero Kevyn A. Ramirez Jennifer Rodriguez Laura A. Lugo