Gilroy

Gilroy Launches Facebook Group to Honor Class of 2020

NBC Universal, Inc.

When high school students graduate in the coming weeks, they won’t be able to walk across the stage and collect their diplomas. One South Bay community is rallying around its seniors.

A mother in Gilroy is trying to soften the blow for the class of 2020, whose graduates will be missing out on the traditional high school commencement ceremonies and celebrations because of coronavirus restrictions.

Teresa Camarillo launched a Facebook Group called Adopt a High School Senior in Gilroy. Parents and friends can create a post of their graduating senior, much like a brag book of their accomplishments. Then someone else can "adopt" that student.

Some of the seniors have been surprised with gift baskets in the weeks leading up to graduation.

Camarillo's daughter Caley would have been graduating this year, but she died in 2014 from cystic fibrosis.

"The yearbook teacher decided it would be a nice surprise for seeing my daughter in cap and gown," Camarillo said. "But it didn’t start out and definitely didn’t want to make it about my daughter and my situation. Make the seniors smile in a time when they should be celebrating."

The Facebook Group is private, so anyone who lives in Gilroy and wants to adopt a senior or have someone adopt their senior, they’ll have to ask permission to join the group.

Neighboring Morgan Hill has a similar Facebook Group for its seniors.

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