REDMOND, OR -- Redmond-area graduating seniors will parade through the halls of their old schools, beginning Friday. Ridgeview Assistant Principal Jensine Peterson says the district got the idea after pictures and videos from schools across the country went viral. "Social media really has a lot of power. And, I think what’s happened is people have put together videos of their kids going back and the seniors are singing the little fight song for the elementary school. For whatever reason, it’s finally on our radar and we can’t help but get on top of it now."

Ridgeview seniors visited Sage, Lynch and Vern Patrick elementary schools, Tumalo Community School and Obsidian Middle School on Friday. Peterson says it’s more than just a fun field trip for students. "How great is it to be able to walk back into our old schools and see how far we’ve come? I think some of them lose touch with just how little they used to be and how much learning has really happened since they’ve been in school. Another is for the younger students to be able to visualize and have some type of visual memory around graduation. We want to make that goal real for them." She adds, teachers appreciate seeing the kids they taught in elementary or middle school all grown up.

Students look forward to the visits. "They’re actually requesting ‘hey, can I go see Mrs. Gowdy, can I go and do this?’ So, many of our students are extremely excited." Peterson says, "Of course, we’ve got the minority who have senioritis who are like, ‘that’s our last day, can’t we do something else?’ But, the reception so far has been really positive."