Blair Oaks High School on Sunday held a parade for its 104 graduating seniors and a special graduation for two graduates who are entering the military.
J.D. Downing and Cole Rackers graduated during an outside ceremony in front of about 100 people in the parking lot between the high school and middle school.
Rackers has been in the Army for about a year now, and will undergo advanced individual training this summer at Fort Leonard Wood.
Downing is going to be a technical engineer land and map specialist with the Missouri National Guard.
He also plans to earn a degree in technical engineering at State Technical College of Missouri while serving in the guard, which is a commitment of one weekend a month after six months of basic training and individual training.
Blair Oaks plans to put a plaque at the high school with the names of all graduates who serve the country in the military.
School board members joined Superintendent Jim Jones during the special graduation ceremony, which was originally the date for the main graduation ceremony. The main graduation now will be held in June.
"It is a great privilege and honor that I'll be here standing behind them today because they're going to be standing in front for us every day," Jones said, standing upon a flat bed of a truck used in the ceremony.
"Let me right now declare all of the Blair Oaks Class of 2020 forever sons and daughters of Blair Oaks. So congratulations to our seniors," Jones said.
After the ceremony, Jones said there's no playbook for dealing with graduation amid the pandemic, but the school wanted to do what it could to honor its graduates.
One way was to hold a senior parade Sunday afternoon. Seniors formed a parade of cars and took an approximate two-hour tour through the four small communities served by the district. Many people along the route came out into their yards to wave and congratulate them, some holding signs for specific graduates.
"It' a great opportunity not only for our seniors today, but a great opportunity for our community to say 'thank you' to them," Jones said.