Members of the Wright City High School Class of 2020 wanted to be set apart from previous and upcoming graduates. They just never imagined it would happen this way.

Typically, distinguishing yourself happens through academic or athletic excellence, esteemed scholarships or breakthrough achievements — not as the result of a worldwide pandemic.

Last Friday was supposed to be filled with trips across the stage to receive diplomas, followed by celebratory hugs and handshakes. Instead, family members watched from a distance as seniors participated in a parade in lieu of graduation, which has been postponed to July 10 at 8 p.m.

“You don’t really realize how fun school is or how much you like it until it’s suddenly over,” reflected senior Shane Vehige. “I miss hanging out with friends every single day, and even the teachers. I miss the teachers and learning.”

For many, this was the first time they had seen their classmates since the school was closed in mid-March. While learning continued virtually, daily social connections and sports season disappeared.

“The last couple months have been really hard for us because we’ve all been super close the last 12 years,” said senior Gabrielle LaMora. “A lot of us have been here since kindergarten, so missing out on prom and sports hurt. Today really gave us an opportunity to get to see each other and hang out before graduation.”

Seniors converged upon the middle school parking lot, decorating their vehicles with banners, creative signs and streamers. Even with some wearing masks, familiar faces shown through.

“I think the parade was a really great idea, because it gave us a chance to see friends that we haven’t been able to see,” said Kalene Masters. “Just to see our classmates again and hang out a little bit is nice.”

Led by Wright City emergency personnel, the seniors traversed down Wildcat Drive in front of West Elementary, before making their way past the high school, where an abundance of supporters waited with their own signs.

“The parade was really cool, seeing parents that I’ve known growing up and the teachers here supporting us,” said Class President Summer Boswell. “All my teachers live in different directions, but they all drove here for us, so that was really cool.”

Many of the seniors have had time to reflect on the situation, trying to paint it in a different light and understand just how it impacts the Class of 2020.

“It teaches resilience, because no matter what we went through, we still all did really good being separated and got all of our work done and stayed close friends,” said Boswell, who believes she and her classmates get a bonus by having both a parade and graduation. “This was fun. They put a lot of stuff together for us to keep our minds off everything that went wrong.”

A creative idea to unite seniors, while still honoring social distancing, seemed enough to sustain the Class of 2020, as it waits another six weeks to officially graduate. For most, it’s less about the date and more about the experience.

“I’m just glad we’re having a graduation in general,” said Vehige. “This is super cool and a good way to bring everybody together and have a good time on a night that we were supposed to be graduating.”