‘It was very emotional.’ Bald Eagle Area celebrates Class of 2020 with surprise parade
Jaden Jones’ first reaction when he heard the sirens of a fire engine on Saturday was a natural one. The Bald Eagle Area senior was concerned that something went wrong at the high school, maybe a car accident or a fire.
He was happy to see that wasn’t the case when he pulled into the school parking lot, and even happier to see why the sirens were blaring.
“You get up (to the high school) and there was all of these people there,” Jones, a three-sport athlete for the Eagles, said. “They had their signs and everything and they were cheering as you drive by. It was really nice. I definitely didn’t expect it.”
Jones and his fellow seniors were instructed to pick up yard signs made in their honor at the high school Saturday evening, but were unexpectedly met with a small parade. Teachers and staff members, along with a few community members, lined the parking lot with signs and decorations, cheering the senior class as they drove up to pick up their signs.
The idea for the parade came from Andrea Simpson, a Spanish teacher at the school, and was organized by Bald Eagle Area Middle and High School Principal Jack Tobias.
The parade allowed students and teachers to see each other again after more than a month apart.
“I think the social aspect was a big part of it,” Tobias said. “People got to see other people they haven’t seen for a while. You have kids that you work with hard and you have an opportunity to see them and smile and wave. It was a great day for everybody that was there and a great day for the community.”
While the interactions were important, health precautions took precedence above all else during the parade. Each car was parked with an empty spot on either side to promote social distancing, while teachers and students wore masks to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“We put a few parameters in place,” Tobias said. “We made sure everybody wore their masks, they weren’t allowed to hand them anything or come in contact with the kids. They could decorate the backs of their cars and sit in their trucks and cheer for them.”
They may not have been able to come within 6 feet of each other, but that didn’t stop the students and teachers from getting emotional about what was taking place.
“It was very emotional for everybody,” Tobias said. “Everyone that reached out to me was grateful that we took the time to do this for the kids. I caught my eyes watering up. You’d see some kids crying, some parents crying. I think it was a closure thing. It was a chance for them to be recognized.”
Jones was grateful for the parade because of what it could mean in the grand scheme of things. The senior knows it may be the last time he sees some of the staff members and other students before graduating, and the surprise gave him an opportunity to say one last goodbye.
“I know I’ll get to see some of them, but it was nice to say a final goodbye if I never see some people again,” Jones said. “It was nice to have that at least. ... There were some teachers I hadn’t seen in so long. Just seeing them was nice.”
He saw it as a chance to replace some of the events he’s going to miss out on because of the pandemic and resulting cancellation of the rest of the academic year.
“I hate not having my senior year like my brother and all of his friends had it,” he said. “I didn’t have the chance to have a senior breakfast or have my senior prom. It’s a little heartbreaking, but this helps.”
Tobias saw the surprise as a success, even exceeding the expectations he’d set for it.
“It was an absolutely amazing day,” he said. “Just an awesome day to celebrate our kids. The community support and the teacher support was outstanding.”
Saturday’s parade probably won’t be the last time the Bald Eagle Area staff gets creative to honor its outgoing senior class. Tobias said he’ll be speaking with the class’ officers this week to discuss more possibilities moving forward.
He and his staff plan on doing whatever they can to make the next few months special for a class that is unlikely to have a usual sendoff.
“We keep changing our plans,” Tobias said. “We’re going to plan to give them the best sendoff we can possibly give them. We’re going to keep doing unique things. We’re going to make this special for them. It’s not ordinary, so we’ve just got to make it extraordinary.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 4:19 PM.
