Staff, families celebrate at Head Start drive-thru graduation

While it might not be high school seniors parading across the floor to receive their high school diplomas and walk into a bright new world, the preschoolers from Holmes County Head Start who will graduate to kindergarten also are marking an important step in their lives.

The staff at Head Start understands that, which is why they put together a graduation celebration of a very different kind to put the wraps on the school year.

Head Start staff invited parents and the students to a drive-by graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 12 that was necessitated by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event took place outside of the Head Start facility in Millersburg, where parents drove their preschool children to the facility to accept either a hat and diploma, signifying their advancement to kindergarten, or a certificate denoting the completion of their first year. Each student also was invited to take a picture, which will help create another nice memory of a school year that went awry too soon for many of the students and staff.

Teacher Sara Hales said the idea was initiated by Holmes County Head Start staff supervisor Janet Mosser, and not only did it give the students something to look forward to, but also it gave the teachers and staff a chance to say goodbye.

“We all truly miss that face-to-face contact that we normally have throughout each day, week and month,” Hales said. “We develop relationships with all of the kids, and once they step through that door, they are my kids for a lifetime. We all miss the kids dearly, and this was one way we felt we could celebrate their accomplishments and get some closure on the year, as brief as it was.”

The idea of the drive-by was to practice social distancing while finding a way to bring students and staff back together, for at least the briefest of times.

On graduation day the staff gathered at the center at 4 p.m. to prepare for the big event. Teachers set up at different tables outside the facility, where kids were able to have their pictures taken and pick up their graduation commencement memorabilia.

There were more than a few happy tears as students moved through the line and received their items.

The emotions show how much the staff cares about each of the children in their care and how quickly a bond can be built between teacher and student.

Mosser said with the year ending so abruptly, the entire staff wanted to commemorate the year in a way that would be special for the children. She noted the staff worked really hard at coming up with creative learning activities and ways to stay in touch with the children and families via phone calls, letters, remind messages, in-kind paper drop-off boxes, Zoom, Marco Polo, FaceTime, ChildPlus and Facebook.

Writing activities, scavenger hunts, seed-growing activities and more helped the children stay focused and connected with the Head Start program.

“I am so proud of our staff and our families for all they have done to make this pandemic somehow more positive and to celebrate their accomplishments with an end-of-the-year graduation,” Mosser said. “I had seen some other things on Facebook, and with the abrupt end to the school year, we wanted to do something because our staff is missing the children and the children are missing the teachers.”

Mosser said the staff has been coming in shifts to observe social distancing. They were able to cobble together learning packets, and having the whole staff there for graduation was special.

“This pandemic has made all of us have to learn how to step up and think outside the box,” Mosser said. “None of us started this with this type of thing in mind, but we have learned how to step up and work even better together than ever to get through this.”

As families rolled through the parking lot, there were plenty of honking horns, laughter and smiles, and the moment gave some closure to the school year. The teachers handed out the rewards to each student and talked to the kids about how much they have missed them.

Teacher Joanne Miller said the graduation celebration was an experience that allowed the parents and children to celebrate together while providing a chance for the entire staff to gather together after not doing so for weeks.

“I sure have learned a lot through this experience,” Miller said. “I’m used to kids coming into the classroom and doing things face to face. I did a lot of Facebook and FaceTime. I learned Marco Polo and Zoom so I could connect with the kids, and you find ways to cope."

Miller said being able to get together like this was special. "We’ve been with some of these kids for two years, and now they are going off, so it was great to see them one more time," she said. "We’ve been aching because we haven’t been able to be with them. That was what was really hard. These kids mean the world to us, and it was special to get to do this because you really do get close to the families."

Even as they celebrate graduation, Mosser said they are already looking forward to next year, which they hope will begin back in the classroom.

Head Start continues to take applications for the coming 2020-21 school year.

Anyone wishing to do so can get sign-up information by calling Mosser at 330-674-9100.