Teachers surprise graduating eighth graders | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Teachers surprise graduating eighth graders

A parade of cars started in Mequon and headed south from house to house to celebrate student graduations from Milwaukee Jewish Day School in Whitefish Bay

Milwaukee Jewish Day School parade honks its way from house to house

When Shannon Widlansky asked her eighth-grade son to come downstairs and he heard all that honking, he was truly surprised. A Milwaukee Jewish Day School parade of cars was in front of his Fox Point house.

“It was just fun that all the teachers got to drive by,” Indy Wid- lansky said, after the cars had honked their way through his circu- lar driveway.

Milwaukee Jewish Day School teachers and staff paraded past 15 homes in all on Friday, May 8, 2020. In this era of social distancing, there was no contact, though someone darted out of a car at each home to place a “Distance Learning Graduate Lives Here” sign in the front yard.

Teachers and students at the school have not lost a step in the transition to distance learning, according to Jori Broidy, the school’s dean of students.

“We want our eighth-grade students to know how proud we are and how much we miss them,” Broidy said.

Eighth-grade teacher Michelle Petrova runs out in front of Indy Widlansky’s home to plant a sign of congratulations in the lawn
Moms like Shannon Widlansky knew the parade was coming, but Indy and other students were surprised
Milwaukee Jewish Day School teachers and staff paraded past homes. Photos by Rob Golub.