TEXARKANA, Texas -- Pleasant Grove Independent School District's largest graduating class to date was greeted with smiles and warm wishes as they walked in cap and gowns during a processional Tuesday morning at Margaret Fischer Davis Elementary School.
The Senior Walk is a tradition, high school Principal Kristen Giles said.
The elementary students lined the hallways to greet the senior Hawks, with many of the younger students holding handmade signs displaying congratulatory messages. As the seniors passed, they gave high-fives to not a few small, outstretched hands.
Giles said the Class of 2023 has 207 students.
After the procession, the soon-to-be graduates convened in the cafeteria to watch a short slide presentation of photos from their early years in school. Some of the students later visited their former elementary teachers.
The elementary was just the first stop of the Senior Walk. The procession was held later in the day at Pleasant Grove Intermediate School.
The walk concludes today at the high school as a way to encourage incoming upperclassmen to complete their education, Giles said.
"You want them to see that too," she said.
Pleasant Grove High School's graduation will be 8 p.m. May 26 at Hawk Stadium at the school.
Pleasant Grove High School seniors Evan Damron, left, and Dawson Anderson lead the Senior Walk on Tuesday morning, May 23, 2023, at Margaret Fischer Davis Elementary School in Texarkana, Texas. Elementary students lined the hallway to greet the soon-to-be graduates with smiles, hugs and handmade congratulatory messages. The Class of 2023 as 207 students — the most in school history, high school Principal Kristen Giles said. (Staff photo by Stevon Gamble)
Pleasant Grove High School's Class of 2023 watch a slide presentation in the cafeteria after the Senior Walk on Tuesday morning, May 23, 2023, at Margaret Fischer Davis Elementary School in Texarkana, Texas. The presentation showed pictures from the soon-to-be graduates early years in the district. (Staff photo by Stevon Gamble)