Jefferson Elementary neighborhoods visited by parade of teachers in cars

Ben Matthews

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Staff members and school administrators from Jefferson Elementary School travel through their students' various Cape Girardeau neighborhoods Sunday afternoon, March 22, 2020, for a local parade of teachers in cars. The parade began at the school going east on Jefferson Avenue and took the following turns: south onto South Sprigg Street, west onto Maple Street, south onto South Ellis Street, west onto Hackberry Street, north onto South Pacific Street, west onto Maple Street again, south onto South Benton Street, through Hackberry Apartments and continuing to LighthouseCape, then west onto Southern Expressway and north onto South West End Boulevard with one last lap through Brenda Kay Court before concluding back at the school.

Jefferson Elementary School principal Leigh Ragsdale rides atop a beach-themed SUV during a teacher car parade in the 1000 block of South Pacific on Sunday, March 22, 2020, in Cape Girardeau. "The main reason we did it is because we believe human connectivity, and being connected to humans -- even if it is, you know, through a screen, or from from the car to the porch, or to the driveway, or in their cars," Ragsdale said. "It just makes people feel good seeing the people that they love." (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Jefferson Elementary teachers and staff process through their students' neighborhoods in a parade of cars Sunday, March 22, 2020, in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Jefferson Elementary STREAM specialist Kelley Branch hangs out a vehicle to wave while leading a parade of local teachers and staff through their students' neighborhoods Sunday, March 22, 2020, in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Jefferson Elementary students Travis, 6, and Leighann Smith, 8, sit with their younger brother Trevor, 3, on Sunday, March 22, 2020, while watching a parade of Jefferson Elementary teachers and staff travel down Jefferson Avenue in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)

Jefferson Elementary teachers and staff process through their students' neighborhoods in a parade of cars Sunday, March 22, 2020, in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Maxine Pinkerton, grandmother to students at Jefferson Elementary School, waves from a front porch as school principal Leigh Ragsdale passes by during a teacher car parade in the 1000 block of South Pacific on Sunday, March 22, 2020, in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
A young parade participant holds holds a sign out of a window Sunday, March 22, 2020, on South Pacific Street in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)