By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


The nearly 500-strong Brighton High School senior class will have a graduation ceremony of sorts Friday with a “Senior Drive-By” to be held from 5-6 p.m. outside the high school complex.

Their parents will be the drivers, with the graduating seniors as front seat passengers, in a slow-moving procession from the main street onto the high school campus. The seniors, wearing their caps and gowns, will have the opportunity to wave to their teachers, administrators, counselors and other staff members, as well as to family members. Brighton City Police will direct traffic, and the Brighton Area Fire Dept. will also be present to display a large American flag. Family members will be able to park their cars and watch the proceedings, or may get out of their vehicles to stand and cheer the students as the cars go by.

High School Principal Gavin Johnson says he is still hoping to have a full-fledged graduation ceremony for the seniors at the BHS football field sometime this summer, saying it all depends on whether the state will allow such gatherings, even while observing social distancing. Johnson says his preference would be to hold a conventional commencement ceremony, with the graduating seniors seated in folding chairs on the football field and parents in the stands. If that is precluded by restrictions imposed by COVID-19 rules, then he says plan “B” will be to have smaller groups of from 10 to 20 students at a time receiving their diplomas, as Johnson puts it, “to make it special for these kids who have lost so much.”

Students will be picking up their caps and gowns, and the school Yearbook, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday at the high school.