SAUGUS — Saugus High School will honor its class of 2020 with a car parade on Friday.
Meant to acknowledge the passing of the district’s original graduation date — June 5 — SHS seniors and their families will gather with their cars in the parking lot of Blessed Sacrament Church at 6 p.m. before heading off on a designated route throughout Saugus Center.
“We just wanted to recognize the actual graduation day,” said School Board chair Tommy Whittredge. “It’s kind of tough letting it go by without doing something, and the kids definitely deserve this much.”
The route takes graduates along Summer and Appleton Streets, through Town Center, and up to Saugus Ironworks, where they will be met by their teachers and school officials waiting to celebrate with signs and decorations.
During a meeting last month, SHS valedictorian Matthew Lanney asked the School Board to “not forget” about the town’s seniors, who have seen an especially tumultuous end to their high school years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“(The kids) were afraid we were going to just let the day go by, but that’s never been the plan,” Whittredge said. “We would never forget about them. That’s the whole reason you get involved with the School Committee — because of the kids.”
Keeping in line with state-mandated social distancing measures, the district currently plans to host a formal graduation ceremony on July 25 at Stackpole Field.
Graduates will be spaced out accordingly on all sides, and there will be no band or chorus to accompany the celebration, although principal Michael Hashem has assured families that there will be a stage for speeches and for students to walk across to receive their diplomas.
In an April interview with the Item, Hashem also emphasized that although they won’t be signing off on their high school careers in the traditional sense, the class of 2020 will go down in Saugus history.
“They’re always going to be a special class to me,” he said. “They’re a great, very united group of kids, and they’ll always be remembered.
“While they may not have had the traditional ending to classes, from a historical standpoint, nobody will ever forget the class of 2020 and the end of this school year.”