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    SLIDESHOW: High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
  • 92015_original
    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Frank Minjarez.

High school seniors from three Palo Alto schools took to the city’s streets for a car parade ahead of graduation on Tuesday evening, when many waved from sunroofs to locals cheering them on from sidewalks.

The event was the second consecutive car parade for graduating seniors from Castilleja School, Gunn High and Palo Alto High. Many showed their spirit by decorating their cars in the colors of their school colors and hanging posters and balloons from car doors (at least one car featured a balloon arch).

Some proudly wore their graduation caps and gowns to the parade, which was held a day before the commencement ceremonies for Gunn and Palo Alto high schools. Castilleja School plans to hold its graduation ceremony on Saturday.

Come back to Palo Alto Online this evening for stories from tonight’s graduation ceremonies. We’ll be posting live photos from the event on Twitter.

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    SLIDESHOW: High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Esther Nigenda.
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    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Esther Nigenda.
  • 92007_original
    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Esther Nigenda.
  • 92008_original
    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Esther Nigenda.
  • 92009_original
    High school seniors participate in a citywide car parade for graduates in Palo Alto on June 1, 2021. Courtesy Esther Nigenda.

Join the Conversation

2 Comments

  1. Congrats to the graduates on your achievements during this challenging time. Well done! Your joy in this happy moment warms our hearts.

  2. When my youngest graduated from Gunn last year, we participated in the parade & it was heartwarming to see so many community members who came out to cheer along the route. So I joined the crowd in front of Gunn last night to cheer on the class of 2021. There were several cars (driven by & with groups of students/graduates in the same car). My concern is one of safety/liability as we saw numerous cars w/ grads standing up, sitting on open window ledges, leaning out of sun roofs, standing up in open truck beds, etc. The grads are rightly joyous & celebratory. Yet there was no police escort in sight, and as the cars sped up & turned corners on Arastradero , several of us parents where concerned about the likely risk of a grad falling out of a moving car & getting injured or worse. Please consider adding some police escorts along the route next year – it’s fine in slow areas but on open stretches that are less crowded (like Arastradero) we really need to teach our young people about safety & have some enforcement for these young adults.

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