Northville hosts car parade for high school grads

Jack Fulton did not expect a happy ending to his senior year at Northville High School, but a car parade made it surprisingly memorable. Fulton even preferred this to past methods of congratulating the senior class.

“Compared to the seniors walking out on the last day and everyone clapping, this was way cooler,” said Jack Fulton.

COVID-19 made the seniors doubt whether they would have graduation or prom. The stay-at-home order put in place on March 24 put some doubts in the students’ minds initially, which made this event so rewarding to them.

Sandi Stevens and the Senior All Night Party (SANP) committee organized this event to try to congratulate their seniors. They decided to have cars drive from Ward Church to Northville High School while people cheered on the sides of the roads.

“I can tell you that there were tears, laughter, screaming, and even the cops were dancing in their cars,” said Stevens. “I don’t think Northville has seen anything like that.”

Tony Koski, the principal of Northville High School, said he was happy to see the rave reviews and positive reactions from some of the 640 students that are in this graduating class.

“The emotions on our seniors’ faces told it all, kids tearing up as they came through smiling,” said Koski. “It really impacted our seniors who have been through a lot.”

Teachers and faculty were allowed to stand in the high school parking lot to wave to the senior class. Like most of them, Rich Bennetts, Northville High School’s swim coach, said he was happy that an event was organized.

“I’m glad they just didn’t give up on the whole thing, I know that there were several school districts that just mailed out diplomas,” said Bennetts. “I’m really happy for the kids that they were able to get something put together so that at least these kids can get a day that they will remember.”

The parade lasted two hours. However, after the students drove through the high school parking lot, they were free to drive home for the day. Their diplomas will be handed out a different day, but Koski said they are still hoping for in-person graduation later in the summer.

Fulton, Stevens, and Koski all said positive things about the parade, and they all could see this happening in the future. Senior Adrien Jund said he enjoyed the entire experience of seeing his teachers one last time and waving a Michigan State flag outside of his car.

“Overall, I thought it was really cool how the community came together to celebrate the seniors one last time,” said Jund. “It was a cool experience.”