Photo By Eric Pilgrim | Leaders from U.S. Army Human Resources Command wave at passersby as they prepare to be...... read more read more
FORT KNOX, Ky. — Two days ago, installation and Fort Knox Middle High School officials pondered whether severe thunderstorms would put a dampener on graduation celebrations.
Even earlier in the day May 15, the day the event was to take place, they waited to see if the weather would cooperate. Cooperate it did, and throngs of community members lined the streets at various locations to cheer on the 65+ seniors who paraded slowly through the post in decorated vehicles toward the high school.
Leading the charge was Class of 2020 valedictorian Stuart Arnold, who arrived two years prior from Germany. Before he and his family came at Fort Knox, he had never known another school environment other than the one in Kaiserslautern.
He hadn’t ever known any other students, either.
“For the last two years, I have made some great friends, probably better than I’ve had at my old school,” Arnold said. “We have a really tight bond.”
Arnold’s mother, Jennifer, said he jumped into activities quickly, including academics, Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, and sports. He was preparing for his school’s first track meet of the 2020 season when COVID-19 struck.
As the pandemic spread across the nation, Kentucky race officials were forced to cancel the track meet.
“We were thinking it was only temporary, that it was only going to be like three weeks or so of us not having sports. I thought it was quite funny at the time,” Arnold said. “Then when they came out and told us we weren’t going to have school anymore, I was quite surprised.
“It was a bummer that we didn’t get to have a prom, but luckily at the very least, we got to have a graduation.”
He stood on the sidewalk in front of the schoolhouse, watching as his classmates drove by. Several people clapped and the students cheered each other as parents honked their horns in celebration. Principal Lonnie Gilmore read off each student’s accomplishments as Vice Principal Luis Dominguez waved a sign and yelled praises for them.
The doors to the school remained closed. For now.
| Date Taken: | 05.15.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2020 22:33 |
| Story ID: | 370138 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 47 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Class of 2020 celebrates May 15 graduation parade under overcast conditions, by Eric Pilgrim, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
