With no in-person ceremony, B-CC parents throw grads a parade instead

School's staff helps cheer for class of 2020 in rolling celebration

June 7, 2020 7:01 p.m.
Graduating seniors from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, like their peers throughout the county, couldn’t have a traditional in-person ceremony this year because of coronavirus restrictions. Instead, on Saturday afternoon, hundreds of them rolled through the community in vehicles decked out in gold and blue for a safer alternative celebration — a parade. Vehicles lined up at the procession’s Wisconsin Avenue starting location before the 2 p.m. start time. In most vehicles, parents were behind the wheel while seniors popped out of windows or sunroofs to wave. Passing cars showed their support with enthusiastic honks. The parade wasn’t an official school event, but parents who organized it invited the school’s staff, too. Dozens of them showed up to cheer on students as their vehicles took them along a route that looped through neighborhoods south of B-CC. Patty Parmelee, the college and career coordinator at B-CC, was part of one group of staff members who greeted students as they passed the Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center in the Town of Chevy Chase. An announcer boomed each student’s name as the vehicle passed through. Parmelee said she was “proud of our kids” for being so resilient while missing out on a customary graduation. “Look at this,” Parmelee said of the students passing by. “They’ve handled this gracefully. They’re having fun.” One student confirmed as much from the sunroof of a car painted with “PENN STATE BOUND” on its side. “I’m feeling amazing!” he shouted back. B-CC Principal Shelton Mooney attended, too. While Mooney said he was glad to have a special day to celebrate the graduating students, he said his sentiment overall was “bittersweet.” “Not to be able to see [the seniors] and shake their hands is tough,” Mooney said. “They’ve worked for this and this is all we get to do with them right now. It’s sad.” Still, Mooney said he hoped the parade, or something like it, would become a tradition because of how it brought the community together despite the pandemic. The parade wended its way out in front of the high school, where the seniors were met with dozens more people applauding. A red truck adorned with bunches of school-color balloons blasted music from a row of speakers in its truck bed. A DJ who stood atop the truck, Arjun Akwei, seemed to recognize almost every student as they made it to the end. Akwei, a graduating senior, congratulated student after student by name over the speaker system as cars passed by. “I think all of us have had a tough time adapting with the circumstances we find ourselves in — from a pandemic to protests about things that all of us truly believe in,” Akwei said, referring to recent protests over the death of George Floyd. Many B-CC students have attended the protests. “But despite everything that happens, I think it’s really important to look around us and celebrate where we are,” he said. Click below to see more photos.
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