Wrightsville Beach Elementary faculty and staff send graduates off in a special way

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — At Wrightsville Beach Elementary School, faculty and staff sent the graduating class off in a very special way.

Wrightsville Beach Elementary 5th graders ended one chapter and started a new one.

“I’m kind of excited because, I’m not going to be just here with all of my teachers cooped up, and it’s going to be more open with people, make new friends,” Graduate Taylor Fagan said.

He expressed how much he will miss the connections he has made throughout his elementary school career.

“They were my, probably my favorite teachers I’ve had, my 5th grade teachers, and I just wish them a happy year,” Fagan explained.

Thursday the school’s faculty and staff celebrated their graduates in a promotion ceremony.

Teacher Lynn McGary said they normally have the event in their auditorium, but due to the coronavirus, they chose to do a drive-thru and send students off with heartfelt goodbyes, and some memorable items.

“They’re picking up everything they left at school a couple of months ago, and there’s some special things inside the boxes, for them too, and we’ve also done drop offs,” .” McGary stated. “So they’re returning novels that we read together and library books, and it’s a pretty emotional time for everyone.”

Principal Jackson Norvell said if it is one lesson this pandemic has taught them, it is to cherish their time together.

“I think seeing people in person, it reminds us of how sacred that is to see them eyeball to eyeball and to have some kind of connection with them other than on a screen,” Norvell expressed.

Parent Jennifer Fagan said her day was bittersweet.

“We’re excited, but sad at the same time. We’re leaving a school that we’ve been at for eight years, and but we’re looking forward to middle school,” Fagan said.