Newton seniors race toward big ‘graduation’ weekend

Newton High School and Newton West Academy seniors have less than two weeks until “graduation” weekend — May 22-24 — arrives.

Three days of activities have been planned for the Class of 2020 to celebrate in a different way than normal because of the coronavirus health crisis. Newton school district administration and staff have come together to help family and friends honor the graduating seniors under the pandemic restrictions.

Cap and gowns have been handed out during a drive-by distribution on May 6. A virtual graduation for the Class of 2020 is also planned, which will be released on May 24.

“It’s not fair we couldn’t spend the final two and a half months together,” Newton High School Principal Bill Peters said. “We headed to the drawing board, pitched a lot of ideas from a lot of people and finally things began to stick and come together.”

The Class of 2020’s final weekend together begins with a Senior Car Parade on May 22. The seniors will line up their cars at Iowa Speedway but before they drive into Newton, they will have the opportunity to drive their car on a lap around the 7/8-mile racetrack at the Speedway.

“We reached out to Iowa Speedway and it and NASCAR granted us permission for each senior to have the opportunity to drive a lap around the track,” NHS counselor Shelly Fitzgerald said. “Bill Peters will wave the checkered flag as each senior crosses the finish line.”

Fitzgerald said photos of each student on the track will be posted to the Newton district Facebook page so parents can get photos.

David Hyatt, the out-going Iowa Speedway president, said it will be a paced lap with the Speedway pace car leading each senior’s car around the track . He said the Speedway staff contacted NASCAR in Daytona, Fla., and they were on board, as several other racetracks including Daytona and Phoenix are doing the same things for seniors in their area.

“This is an opportunity to take a venue which right now is sitting dormant to do something really good for the graduating seniors and the community,” Hyatt said. “Obviously, a traditional graduation ceremony is not something the Class of 2020 is going to experience and Iowa Speedway and NASCAR is proud to give Newton’s seniors this opportunity to remember.”

Following the Speedway experience, the senior’s cars will be lineup up for a parade to downtown Newton.

“Each senior needs a driver for their car. We want the seniors in caps and gowns and we’ve encouraged them to decorate their cars if they would like to,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ll line up the cars at the Speedway then be led by the Newton police from there down to First Avenue.”

Fitzgerald and Peters wanted to remind those along the car parade route to observe the social distancing rules.

Once the parade is complete, there will be a special “Scoop the Loop For Seniors” held, which was announced on Monday.

The seniors will be allowed to participate driving up and down on First Avenue. Peter said Amanda Price, executive director of the Newton Chamber of Commerce, helped organize this surprise element to Friday’s activities. Requests for songs dedicated to a special senior or to the class will be taken by KCOB radio to be played during the event.

On May 23, a private photo session for the seniors will be held in the morning at Maytag Park. Fitzgerald said a donation was made to allow each member of the Class of 2020 to have a photo taken in cap and gown after walking the Maytag Bowl stage. John Lee will be taking photographs during each senior’s designated time slot during the park session. Each student will receive a free 5x7 photo because of the private donation.

May 24 will be graduation day for the Class of 2020. Peters said he and the class officers filmed the entire graduation ceremony on May 6. Fitzgerald said through donations, a production company was hired to do the virtual graduation.

Speeches were given and each student’s name was announced just like it would have in the traditional ceremony. He said the production company will use photos of the students through the years at activities, just having fun and the senior pictures in the video.

At 3 p.m. May 24, the virtual graduation ceremony will be presented on multiple social media platforms. Fitzgerald said it will be on the Newton district website, Facebook and YouTube.

“Hopefully, the kids will gather with their parents and family to watch and they are wearing their cap and gown as they celebrate,” Peters said. “It’s not what we normally do but it is going to be special.

“We’re so, so thankful for all the Cardinals in town who have stepped up and helped — there’s lots of people, donations from community members, organizations and businesses and a lot of time — to make this all possible for our youth people. Red Pride is shining bright.”

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com