The year 2020 has been notorious for being an obstacle for events and traditions Greeley West hosts. Greeley West’s well-known Car Caravan is one of those events that was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols and social distancing.

Despite these circumstances, Greeley West was determined to continue this long-held tradition. Student Council Sponsor, Ms. Lea Sanford said, “It is a tradition that gets a lot of students involved in showing their school pride and spirit. I feel that is one of the many things that makes Greeley West unique and I want to continue to honor that.

The tradition of the West-Central Car Caravan has been a long going tradition for “at least 40 years,” Sanford said. With the car caravan being such an old tradition, it is vital to keep the “streak” going. “There is the concern that once a tradition goes away, we don’t get it back which would be awful,” Sanford said.

The Car Caravan has been a big deal for a long time, and some of Greeley West’s teachers remember participating as students.  Greeley West Alumni and teacher Mr. Brandon Torrez said he, “remembers it being a big deal when he was in high school.”

Typically, the Car Caravan would start with decorating in the Greeley West parking lot and then students would follow a police escort to District 6 Field, shouting their school spirit along the way.  Without being able to do an actual Car Caravan, the shoebox decorating became a solution. “We wanted to come up with a creative way to continue our Car Caravan tradition,” Sanford explained. “Mr. (Tom)Nugent emailed me over the summer about doing a car caravan shoebox parade and I loved it.” 

With almost every event there is going virtual, it might be challenging to get the student body excited for the shoebox caravan. “I am hoping that this is outside of the norm enough that students buy-in. It’s a way to do something fun in school that shows some school spirit,” said Sanford.

Not only would it be a challenge to get students to show their spirit through the shoeboxes, but they would have to present them virtually. The shoebox parade was a part of the virtual pep assembly students watched on Friday during homeroom for the B cohort and on Tuesday for the A cohort.