Coronavirus spoiled graduation, so Texas towns celebrated with car parades

Spring, Texas, U.S.A. – For many high school students, senior year is the most exciting, rewarding, and memorable year of their high school career. But in 2020, the memories look a lot different for my sister and her class.

With prom, graduation, and senior award ceremonies taken away or postponed, a new way to celebrate has spread, becoming the “new normal” and the safest, most fun way to celebrate during these changing times: car parades.

From neighborhood car parades to school car parades, it seems that everyone wants to turn the sadness into something cheery and memorable this year for the graduating high school seniors.

Amid canceled celebrations worldwide, one simple gesture can change a student’s outlook on the whole situation. 

In the Windrose neighborhood of Spring, Texas, over 50 cars joined together to celebrate their graduating seniors.  The whole community came out of their homes, lining the streets to give their congrats to the graduates and wish them well on the next journey of their lives.

Neighborhood after neighborhood, schools, counties, and towns – big and small – want to join in the car parade celebrations.

At the courthouse in downtown Houston, many graduates lined their cars up to parade through the city with police escorts, as citizens and workers marveled at the celebratory spectacle and as regular traffic stopped, with the smiling drivers waving hands of cheers and congratulations. 

At the end of the day, no hurdle can stand in the way of the love communities have for their graduating seniors. Congrats class of 2020!

Katrina Machetta is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.