Honor Our Grads

Our Ward does an "Honor Our Grads" evening every year.  This year was going to be different because we couldn't have activities.  The Bishop talked with the Ward Youth Council and decided to do something different.  The YW president called me and asked my opinion (as a mom of a graduate) and then she opened it up to the other graduate moms and it TURNED INTO SOMETHING HUGE!!

We had 13 seniors in our ward/neighborhood this year!  And 7 of those seniors have been together since they were 4 years old. That is absolutely crazy.  I don't think we have ever had that many before.  So the moms wanted to do something extraordinary.  The plan was to do a graduation parade around the neighborhood but we didn't want it to be boring or ordinary.

A call went out to everyone in the neighborhood asking if they would be willing to let the graduates borrow their 4-wheelers for a parade around the neighborhood.  Within 10 minutes, we had 12 4-wheelers ready to go. (We had 1 senior graduate in December so he wasn't going to participate in the parade.)

We set the date as May 20th so we wouldn't interfere with any other graduation ceremonies (the high schools were going to broadcast their virtual graduation ceremonies on the other days).

I offered to make a balloon arch to go over the road.  A couple of the yw in the neighborhood made the signs to go on the front of the 4-wheelers.  Ethan went over ahead of time to get a driving lesson so he would be safe. A ym in the ward made a graduation video with photos we had all sent in. One of our neighbors offered their snow cone machine for treats.

Bryan and Courtney helped me with the arch and it turned out great.  We took it down to the cul-de-sac where the graduates would start their parade.

The graduates all gathered in the cul-de-sac so they could get started.  There were 3 razors that were driven by people in the neighborhood with the flags of the different schools.  The signs were put on the 4-wheelers and then the graduates were ready to go.

Ethan was so excited to drive a 4-wheeler!

The kids were hilarious to watch congregate around while they waited to get going.

I ran back to our house to be there when they all went by.  It was fun to see them all. They had the American flag go first, then the Tuacahn banner with the 2 students following, then the SCHS flag, then the 7 SCHS students, then the DSU flag with the 3 Success Academy students.

After they finished going by our house, we went to the cul-de-sac to see them finish. They had them all back in so we could get a group picture.  It was so fun to see all the support and the amazing kids we have in our neighborhood.  Kenny Kunde (a teacher and the girls soccer coach who lives in our neighborhood) announced the graduates while they were given a candy lei.

We got them to throw their caps:

When they finished, the picture taking and goofing off began.  There are pics and videos below.

The boys:



Ethan and Kyli (who was the only girl in their Primary classes for YEARS!):

Brennon, Ethan, and Carter

They were trying to figure out how to hold Brennon up between them.

They finally got Brennon up:

Ethan and Carter were born on the same day and have been friends since they were 4 years old.  It's been so fun to watch these 2 grow up together.

They were trying to do a pyramid but it didn't quite work.

Duncan and Ethan have been friends since they were 4 years old.  Both have their mission calls and they had a joint Eagle Court of Honor.  There's a lot of history with these two.

This is one proud little sister!!

After the pictures were taken and it started to get dark, we all sat down with a big tub of popcorn, water bottles, and our families to watch the video of the graduates.  It was so fun!!  You can click on the link below to watch it.

Senior Video

 After the video, we cleaned up, grabbed all Ethan's swag he was given by the amazing people in our neighborhood, and went home.

We have the YSA bishopric in our ward so they gave them a gift bag.

I am so grateful for the amazing people who put together this night for the kids.  It was a lot of work and coordination, but it was the BEST!  These kids know they are loved and they had a great graduation that couldn't have happened without Covid restrictions.  That has been a blessing I didn't anticipate.  I was upset about all the cancelled graduations but nothing, nothing, nothing that the schools could have planned would have beat this party!!