220 North Carolina high school students get personal graduation parades

Principal Tabari Wallace, left, dressed in full graduation regalia and handed out personalized yard signs to graduating students.(ednc.org)

This principal is taking other educators to school.

All 220 students at a North Carolina high school got personal graduation parades because the in-person ceremony was canceled, EducationNC reported.

Tabari Wallace, principal at West Craven High School in Vanceboro, N.C., organized the four-hour extravaganza, according to EdNC. Wallace coordinated with teachers, police officers, firefighters and other community leaders to make the parades happen.

Even with all that help, Wallace couldn’t cover all 485 square miles by himself, so 14 different groups charted paths past each student’s house, EdNC reported. They were armed with personalized yard signs and told students, “You will graduate.”

“It was a long 5 hours today delivering these signs to the our seniors, but it was one if the greatest things I've experienced so far in my career,” Briee Zy, who was part of the parade, wrote on Facebook. “Loved seeing the class of 2020 and their families reactions. It is priceless. I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a few tears.”

This is hardly Wallace’s first foray into being a good guy. He was named 2018 North Carolina Principal of the Year for his work at West Craven High, located about 115 miles southeast of Raleigh.

“This is a perfect illustration of it truly takes a village,” Wallace wrote on Facebook. “It was a truly special day.”