‘It means the world’: Brooks students celebrate graduation with drive-in ceremony

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“I was really glad that people put a parade together because it was disappointing to not have a real graduation but in the end in a few years we are going to look back and say ‘wow we were the only kids that got kind of a unique graduation in this difficult time,”‘ added Grade 12 student Brooklyn Niznik.

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Vehicles were colorfully decorated and signs painted the town congratulating the 150 graduates at Brooks Composite High School.

For some, it was one of the few times to reconnect with friends.

“It means everything. It’s been so awesome like as soon as I see my friends today it just instantly brightened my face and it’s just so great, said Grade 12 student Kassidy Palmer.

Palmer, like many of the students was not able to see friends in months as the community of just under 15,000 became front and centre of the second largest COVID-19 outbreak in the province. There are now just two active cases in the community.

“It was very scary. I was locked up for two months in my house and it was really sad because I didn’t get to see my friends for two whole months but this definitely makes it worth it seeing everyone again,” Palmer said.

Her mom, Leah Palmer organized the drive-in event to give students the opportunity to celebrate high school graduation and their hard earned accomplishments.

“I just wanted to make sure that they had something to commemorate their day. Today is supposed to be their grad day and they deserve that its’ been a rough year,” said Palmer.

A rough year marked by a health pandemic, school cancellations, eight deaths relating the virus and endless uncertainty. But through all of that, the community of Brooks remained strong.

“In my opinion, Brooks was the epitome of what it means to be a community. Everyone tried to be the light for others. You know in different ways you saw birthday parades happening and more and more people just trying to do things for others in so many ways, and that’s what this was about. It’s about giving back to the kids,” Palmer said.

As the teens set off with their whole lives ahead of them, and close one chapter of their life and begin a new one, one thing is for certain, this day will remain one they will always be grateful for.

“I think this is just as good as the real thing so I’m really happy, ” said Grade 12 student Trey Osadczuk