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Keeping a distance, Bulldogs graduate

About 140 vehicles parked Saturday on the Dave Pavlansky Field at Poland Seminary High School. Keeping a social distance, students were able to walk across a stage, picking up their diplomas from a table. Staff photos / Ashley Fox

POLAND — Saturday wasn’t simply Jason Wilson’s 19th birthday.

It was a milestone that he, along with other Class of 2020 graduates, had waited for: high school graduation.

Sitting in the passenger seat of a decorated Jeep while father Jason Sr. and mother Leah watched the Poland Seminary High School graduation from the football field, the graduate gave a quick fist bump when a recording shared all of the seniors’ accomplishments.

That is because he is going to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

“We are so thrilled, excited, happy and proud,” said Leah.

Applying what he and many other graduates have had to do during the coronavirus pandemic, Jason said when he gets to West Point, he’s going to take things as they come.

“I’m just along for the ride,” he said.

Many were “along for the ride” at the school’s stadium Saturday, driving their vehicles over the turf.

About 140 vehicles neatly parked on the field, which will be replaced starting in June.

“It’s unique to us … You normally don’t drive a car on a track in a football field,” Dave Janofa, school district superintendent, said.

People were not allowed to exit their vehicles, until ushers from the district told graduates they could get in a distanced line up to the stage.

The decision to park on the field also came from finding a way to have students walk across a stage, following social distancing guidelines, picking up their diplomas from a table.

“We’ve kind of pushed off the start … of the renovations. We moved it to Monday,” Janofa said.

The track and turf will be closed to the public until further notice, he said.

afox@tribtoday.com

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