ROCK SPRINGS — As the vehicles came down the street, the kids stood up with their homemade signs and waved at their teachers, principal and even the school’s mascot.

In an effort to keep staff and students’ morale up due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic closures, local schools have been hosting neighborhood parades.

Westridge Principal Karl Wells said he and his employees decided to host a parade after they noticed several other Rock Springs elementary schools shared their parades on Facebook.

“We miss our students. We wanted to go out into their neighborhoods to say ‘hello’ and let them know we care about them and miss them,” Wells said.

With this in mind, Westridge employees created and mapped out a parade route, then drove it a couple of times. Wells said this allowed them to get a better idea of how long it would take so they could tell students when they would be in their neighborhood.

They also coordinated a time and date with school employees and the School Resource Officers who acted as the parade escorts. Prior to the parade taking place, students were sent informational flyers so they knew when and what time the parade would take place.

Parade participants then drove through all of the Westridge’s boundaries on April 8. Westridge employees, SROs, parents, students and of course the school’s lion mascot all participated in the parade.

“The school staff decorated their cars for the students and students and parents made signs and cheered as we drove by them,” Well said. “We are a team. We can all be successful together. This parade allowed all of us to cheer each other on.”

The parade took about 90 minutes to complete, and students were encouraged to practice social distancing while standing on the sidewalks to see the parade.

Wells wanted to thank the teachers, students and parents for working as a team and supporting each other to be successful in the virtual learning environment.