RUMSON – Since traditional graduation ceremonies are still prohibited under COVID-19 rules, staff from Forrestdale School turned a plain pickup truck into a sparkly purple graduation party float to celebrate the eighth-grade Class of 2020. Over the course of four days last week, it was driven to every student’s house where staff personally delivered diplomas and congratulated the graduates on their achievement.
ELIZABETH WULFHORST
Forrestdale School Class of 2020 student Parks Cuskley received his diploma June 12 the same way all his classmates did this year, from principal Jennifer Gibbons and superintendent John Bormann on the back of a mobile graduation float.
Forrestdale principal Jennifer Gibbons and district superintendent John Bormann rode in the bed of the truck, blasting music through a speaker, as Rumson police escorted the float through the streets. Other staff members followed in a car adorned with the giant furry head of a bulldog, the Rumson mascot. Graduates were greeted with a cacophony of car horns and cheering from those in the caravan and even some passersby. Many teachers also followed along to offer cheers and support. Once the float arrived at a designated house, the student dressed in a purple graduation robe came out to greet it, with family in tow.
The student was escorted up a ramp onto a tiny makeshift stage on the back of the truck where they stood while Gibbons, gloved and masked, offered up congratulations. Gibbons then placed the student’s diploma on the edge of the truck tailgate for pickup and family posed for pictures with their happy graduate.
The article originally appeared in the June 18-24, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
