By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY – Senior Writer

Graduating seniors from Rim High School paid a visit to each of the district’s other schools, donning bright blue caps and gowns, on Tuesday, June 2. At Valley of Enchantment Elementary School in Crestline, two buses pulled into the parking lot around 9 a.m. and dropped off more than 100 graduating seniors.

VOE students and Rim High graduates lined up on the playground.

With “Pomp and Circumstance” playing in the background, the proud procession of graduates proceeded through the kindergarten playground – where kindergarteners gave each graduate a Hawaiian lei – then into the main classroom hallway, all the while exchanging high fives and handshakes with students and teachers lining both sides of the hallway, until the cavalcade of VOE and Rim High students reached the other end of the corridor. The “Long Train of Dreams” exited the building and traveled onto the playground for photo opportunities and more congratulatory handshakes and hi-fives.

A graduating senior greets her former VOE teacher.

This scene was repeated at Lake Arrowhead Elementary School and Mary Putnam Henck Intermediate School, both in Lake Arrowhead, as well as Charles Hoffman Elementary School in Running Springs.

VOE Interim Principal Tori Burk told The Alpine Mountaineer that this event, dubbed “The Senior Walk,” has been a Rim School District tradition since 2016, with the exception of COVID pandemic years.

When asked how the tradition began, longtime VOE teacher Stephanie Plemons said, “We got it from other schools. I believe it encourages the kids to work hard toward their goal of graduating from high school.” Plemons added that each graduating senior made a poster with their name on it and posted it in the hallway.

Former VOE students posted their names in the hallway. The VOE Hawk mascot is in the background.

Nine-year-old Fernanda, who is in Mrs. Snyder’s fourth-grade class, was asked how she felt about the Senior Walk. “It feels nice. I want to be able to graduate from high school.” When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, Fernanda replied, “I want to go to college so I can be a veterinarian.”