Beaumont Seniors Celebrate Graduation With Cap Toss Ceremony

BEAUMONT, CA — A group of former high schoolers in Beaumont recently celebrated their not-so-traditional graduation with a mortar board toss for the ages.

Beaumont resident Adriana Ligorria said she organized the cap toss ceremony after finding out her son, a Beaumont High School senior, would be celebrating the end of his high school career with a drive-thru graduation ceremony instead of walking across the stage.

So, she put together an event on Facebook inviting students and their parents out to Beaumont's Sports Park to do just that, she said.

Ligorria said although the event was not sponsored by the school, around 105 students still showed up in graduation regalia to throw their caps into the air.

"I had a lot of parents come up to me at the park," she said. "They told me, 'this will be very memorable for our seniors to look back on.'"

Ligorria she said her initial fear after hearing that the formal graduation ceremony had been canceled was that her son wouldn't have a fond memory of his graduation to look back on.

She now sees it in a new light.

"This is going to be history. Nobody has ever gone through this," she said. "This is something you can go back and share with your own children one day."

Ligorria said on the day of the cap toss, she, her husband Adam, her son Aaron and her freshman-aged daughter brought water and a sound system to the Sports Park to prepare.

The sound system didn't work, but despite technical setbacks, her husband said the word and seniors sent their caps flying, she said.

Ligorria hopes her son can return to the school next year to participate in traditional graduation events like grad night and prom.

Either way, she's in hopes things will be back to normal when her daughter graduates in 2023.