Sargent High School in Monte Vista keeps graduation alive at drive-in theater

MONTE VISTA, Colo. (KRDO) -- Due to COVID-19, many graduates across the country won’t get to experience a typical graduation ceremony in front of their friends and family.

But in Monte Vista, the show must go on.

Friday night, Sargent High School's 23 senior graduates walked across a stage and grabbed their diplomas. It didn't happen in their high school gymnasium, it was the main feature at the local Star Drive-In movie theater.

This was done so families and friends get to see it all from the comfort of their own vehicles, all while practicing social distancing. Administrators at Sargent High School say they had the blessing from their local health department.

"The whole world is going through a pandemic and what we used to know with the traditional graduations, prom, they are no longer there," said Michelle David, the secondary principal at Sargent High School. "So we had to present some kind of memorable graduation some way so the Senior could have something memorable to look back on."

“The seniors are masked and gloved and they do get to walk across the stage and receive their diploma," said Jen Kimberling, the Sargent High School 2020 Senior Class adult sponsor. "They will get to walk. Everything that's traditional, you will see.”

Valedictorian speeches survive on the big screen, while friends and families listened on from inside their vehicles with their FM radios.

Most importantly, the emotions aren’t going anywhere.

“It’s about our family," said Lisa Robirds a Sargent High School graduate who came to see her nephew get his diploma. "It’s about being a part of something that going to continue regardless of what happens in this world.”

As for graduates, their grateful their ceremony found a way to survive a global pandemic. Not to mention, Sargent High School’s 2020 graduation will be remembered forever.

“It’s your senior year you remember it for the rest of your life," said Sargent High School Graduate Jeni Johnson. "It was really frustrating that I would have to miss out on a lot, but I want to give a really big shoutout to our school. I know our school has been very flexible and has tried to make this as special as possible. It means a lot to all of us.”

“Everybody can say they graduated from the gym," said Sargent High School Graduate Clay Kimberling. "But only 23 of us will be able to say ‘We graduated from the drive-in.’”