Staff photo / Ashley Fox Jill Marconi, a teacher in the Poland Local School District, waves to students Tuesday on the last day of school. Throughout the day, students and their families made their way around the McKinley Elementary and Poland Middle schools neighborhood, saying bye for the summer to teachers lined up along the streets. , holding signs.

POLAND — Although it was only 9 a.m. Tuesday, “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang filled a usually quiet neighborhood with music.

Teachers from McKinley Elementary and Poland Middle schools lined Lee Street, keeping a distance from one another, holding signs and waving to faces that they haven’t seen in person in months.

“We miss your faces!” yelled Jill Marconi, a teacher in the district, as she called out to a car full of students, driven by a parent.

“You miss them, but you see their faces” and it makes the emotion deeper, she said as a car drove away, wiping tears from her eyes as she smiled.

Some students held signs from their vehicles as they slowly moved down the street, thanking teachers or expressing how much they are missed. Some families circled the block more than once, with students making sure to wave to each teacher.

The students have been at home and learning virtually during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with parents and grandparents helping them with online lessons and projects.

The sendoff into summer marked a way to give students that feeling of finality that goes along with a traditional school year, said David Purins, principal of the schools.

“We wanted to provide some closure for the school year for the kids,” he noted.

The opportunity also was a way to thank parents, Purins said. “They’ve really taken on a large burden and stepped up in a tremendous way to partner with us.”

Participants from each grade made their way in a caravan style through the neighborhood each hour, with eighth graders wrapping up the day at 6 p.m.

afox@tribtoday.com