Neenah High School class of 2020 gathers in cars, trucks and boats for parade amid community cheers

Natalie Brophy
Appleton Post-Crescent

NEENAH - Graduation ceremonies are looking very different for the class of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, including for Neenah High School seniors. 

Without a traditional graduation ceremony, the community got creative and threw a parade for the senior class Wednesday morning, several hours before the high school's virtual graduation ceremony the same night.

The graduating students donned red caps and gowns and gathered in cars and the backs of pickup trucks, on motorcycles – even a boat. The parade vehicles were decorated with balloons, signs and streamers. Along the way, family, friends and community members lined up on the side of the road, holding signs and cheering on the graduates. 

Neenah High School has 480 graduating seniors and School Resource Officer Vicki Strebel estimated more than 300 vehicles took part in the parade, with some carrying multiple students. 

Planning the parade took about a month and a considerable amount of coordination between school officials, city leaders and the police department, Neenah High School Principal Brian Wunderlich said.

Originally, the parade was going to end in the high school parking lot, but plans changed. The route flipped and the parade started at the high school and ended in downtown Neenah.

The change of plans turned out to be a symbolic gesture for the students, Wunderlich said, as they got to leave the high school one last time and go out into the world. 

"I think it gave them a small piece of closure," Wunderlich said. "When we stopped going to school in March, I think we all thought at some point or another we'd be back together. For them just to be in the parking lot one more time and see maybe another friend or sort of have that symbolic sense of leaving, I think it allowed them to feel like they are graduating now. We have our ceremony (Wednesday night), but the feeling of walking across the stage, I think that's what the parade replaced, which is good."

Strebel and Wunderlich were both happy to see the community support the seniors, who have missed out on many of traditional school activities due to the pandemic. Strebel said it was nice for her to get to see the students during the parade, since she hasn't been able to work with them since schools closed two months ago. 

Wunderlich said he was filled with pride seeing the community come together for the senior class. But he was also proud of how the students acted during the parade, showing gratitude to those who came to support them. 

"I talked to some people along the parade route and they were like, 'Gosh, the kids just kept saying thank you' and that's a big part of what we talk about," he said. "A lot of life, you don't get to control the circumstances but how you react to it, when you can express gratitude, life tends to work out for you. It was a proud moment for me to watch them practice what we preach." 

The high school's virtual graduation ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday and will be livestreamed on the Neenah Joint School District YouTube page

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Contact Natalie Brophy at (715) 216-5452 or nbrophy@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @brophy_natalie