An untold number of students who’ve waited their entire lives to walk across the stage and receive their high school diploma have seen their moment snatched away by the coronavirus pandemic. One North Carolina principal is working to restore his students' moment of glory.
West Craven High School principal Tabari Wallace made sure that all of his 220 students got a personal graduation ceremony, reports EdNC. Students' homes are spread out and many travel long distances to attend the Vanceboro, North Carolina, school. Wallace couldn’t cover all the ground himself, so he enlisted fellow teachers, police officers, firefighters and other community leaders to pull off the parades.
Different groups, 14 in total, planned out routes to each student’s house. They were equipped with personalized yard signs of the students featuring their formal graduation pictures and told students, “You will graduate.” Together they covered up to 485 square miles of rural North Carolina to uplift the students.
In a video, Wallace is seen sporting a Kappa Alpha Psi face mask and trekking across yards to meet delighted students. The new graduates were surprised, meeting Wallace wearing everything from lounge attire to sundresses, and some were even at their jobs.
“It was a long 5 hours today delivering these signs to the our seniors, but it was one if the greatest things I've experienced so far in my career,” Briee Zy, a participant in the parade, wrote on Facebook. “Loved seeing the class of 2020 and their families reactions. It is priceless. I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a few tears.”
Principal Wallace rallied his staff in an email sent out the night before that listed out all the ways the students had overcome obstacles and why they deserved to be honored.
“This gesture is much-deserved considering what our seniors have been through over the past four years. Hurricanes, floods, ice storms, sharing their school to make room for the displaced JWS babies, no senior cookout, no senior prank day, no junior/senior weekend, no spring athletics, band and chorus concerts, no spring theatre productions, no A-team Banquet, no academic award celebration, and a delayed prom and graduation (yes we are still having these two) just to name a few,” Wallace wrote in an email.
“This is the least we can do to show our seniors we care and that they are at the forefront of our thoughts,” he said further.
JWS is James W. Smith Elementary School, a school whose building was destroyed by Hurricane Florence in 2018. West Craven High opened its doors to the young children by adding 270 extra desks.
Wallace promised that the graduation is only delayed, not canceled.
“Please accept this as a token from the Craven County Board of Education, administration, and teachers until we can finally get you across the stage,” Wallace said as he placed each sign in students' yards.
“This is not a substitute, it’s a bridge to get them across this stage. When you hear kids asking about graduation, tell them this: We will graduate.”
Watch a heartwarming compilation of some of Wallace's house visits below:
