It takes more than a pandemic to dim Piedmont Elementary’s Panther Pride.
The school’s staff showed up en masse Friday to say goodbye to students for the summer with a Panther Pride Parade around the Piedmont and Lincoln Park neighborhoods.
Along the route, parade participants riding in a school bus and more than 30 decorated personal vehicles (joined by a firetruck and police squad) waved and greeted students, parents and grandparents.
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“This is our way of saying, ‘We’re here, we love you, and we’ll always be here for you,’” said Jake Laurent, Piedmont dean of students and parade organizer.
Piedmont’s 450 K-5 students and 100 preschoolers haven’t been in the school since COVID-19 precautions closed it down in March.
Driving a convertible decorated with balloons, pinwheels and ribbons was first-grade teacher Heidi Owens.
“Anything for the children,” she said as she and daughter Grace decorated the car before the parade. “After all they’ve been through this year, this is the very least we can do to close out the year in a special way.”
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