Malabar Intermediate students reach out to touch hands with Senior High’s 2016 graduates.
Graduating seniors from Mansfield Senior High got celebrity treatment Thursday morning as they walked through the halls of Malabar Intermediate School.
Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders lined the hallways outside their classrooms to applaud, cheer and slap hands with the graduates.
Malabar was the first stop on a five-building tour arranged by Senior High Principal Dr. Jose Hernandez. He wants the parade of visiting graduates to be an annual event at Malabar and each of the elementary buildings.
“I believe this will be a nice tradition and will further connect the progress of our students with those who worked so hard to lay the foundation for their success,” Hernandez said.
Many of the Malabar teachers had the graduates in their classrooms in years past.
Malabar Principal Andrea Moyer said the graduating seniors had a powerful impact on the younger students.
“I think this is wonderful. I hope it becomes a tradition every year,” she said. “It gives our students a glimpse into the future. They’re thinking ‘That can be me someday.’”
Hernandez and the group of about 50 graduates left Malabar bound for Woodland Elementary. Their schedule took them on to Prospect Elementary, the Spanish Immersion School and Sherman Elementary before returning to Senior High about an hour before the start of Class Day at 1 p.m.
Commencement will be at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in Pete Henry Gym.