A 'Moving Up Parade' for students at Our Lady of Mercy

Brighton, N.Y. – Students at Our Lady of Mercy marked the near-completion of another school year – and, at the same time, a homecoming of sorts – on Wednesday.

Middle school students took part in the school’s annual Moving Up Day. It’s a day in which students gather together, and class members pass down lessons and other bits of advice to younger peers.

It’s a tradition that usually takes place in an auditorium setting. However, in a year marked by COVID-19, the school had to think outside the box.

This year, to help ensure social distancing and to allow students to have five days a week of in-person learning, grades 6-8 were housed at the school’s East Avenue campus. This provided an opportunity for Moving Up Day, in which students literally found themselves moving back to the Blossom Road campus. One grade at a time, students marched in a Moving Up Parade between the two campuses.

“Typically, in the auditorium, the girls change seats,” said Sherylanne Diodato, dean of the middle school. “Actually, we are marching back, parading back home, and it is our way we are moving back and coming back to our roots at Mercy Blossom and in our space that we love and enjoy.”

Brighton Police were on hand to help safely escort the students back to the Blossom Road campus.