Car Parade Salutes Mother McAuley Class Of 2020

CHICAGO — The Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School Class of 2020 won't get to cross the stage in a traditional graduation ceremony, but that didn't stop school administrators and faculty members from recognizing their achievements. And, their recognition came in a unique was as a first-of-its-kind car parade Friday morning brought smiles to the faces of more than 150 of the soon to be Mighty Mac alums.

"We were thrilled so many came out," said Meg Gardner, dean of upperclasswomen at Mother McAuley.

Scroll through the photos atop this article for more scenes from the car parade.

Gardner said about 83 percent of the senior class came out in their own family cars to participate in the parade, which was held entirely in the school parking lot and did not cause any traffic congestion on nearby streets in Mount Greenwood or Evergreen Park.

"It was so wonderful to see the big smiles and happy tears," Gardner said of the event dubbed "Mac Together Again."

"The parents were elated to see so many faculty and staff members. It was rewarding for them to see how much the community cares about our seniors."

Each McAuley senior who participated in the parade received a care package, one that graduating Mighty Macs receive every year. The ones who could not make it out had the care package delivered to their homes later that day.

Gardner said there are 210 seniors in the Class of 2020 at Mother McAuley, which for decades has been the largest all-girls Catholic high school in the United States.

Of course, the coronavirus pandemic has created a number of new challenges for both the staff and students at the school. But Gardner said those challenges were minimized because the school already had an e-learning plan in place for a few years.

"No one could foresee us having to use it for this long... but it was a bit of a natural progression for us," she said.

Even though a traditional graduation ceremony is likely to return for the Mother McAuley Class of 2021 and beyond, Gardner wouldn't rule out keeping the car parade, which she said went off seamlessly, as a new tradition.

"We had a few alums on Twitter laughing about why we haven't been doing this already," she said.

Watch a segment of the parade here: