WYOMING, Mich. — A high school in Kent County honored four students who would have been seniors this year, thanks to the actions of one of their classmates. Dozens of Kelloggsville High School Seniors lined up on the football field Friday night.
"We're doing a senior walk to just show off everyone who's a senior this year and is doing athletics," Kelloggsville High School senior Oriana DeGraff told FOX 17.
"I'm gonna miss that little guy now because it happened too fast. I mean, he was, he was proud to be a player," Jo'syia Moffett and Giovanni Pastoria's grandparent Timothy Morrow said.
Jo'syia and Giovanni, along with two other Kelloggsville Rockets, walked with their families in spirit.
"I'm just very grateful that they essentially get to be a part of us and it's like they get to walk through their senior year as well even if they're not here," Oriana said.
The two brothers would be seniors this year. "This is a way of them graduating really," Jo'syia and Giovanni's grandparent Betty Dupree said.
Arizona State Public Safety says the brothers died in a car crash with their mom, Natisha, and three other siblings after a tractor-trailer rear-ended their car in July 2021.
"I miss them, and I'm so proud of them. I love them so much," Jo'syia and Giovanni's grandparent Ynes Morrow said.
Much of their family lives right near Kelloggsville High School. Friday night was their first time being back at the high school since they lost their family members more than a year ago.
"My heart breaks, but I'm still happy. I'm happy. They're doing this for us. Something to be proud of," Ynes added.
Family and friends still hold onto those happier memories, like the moments when Jo'syia used to play on this field.
"I watched the game sometimes because I recorded everything. So I watch and cry. Then I turn it off, but I still do," Ynes said.
"I took his drumstick and I threw it on the ground because it bounces back up so you can catch it. And it actually snapped in half. And he had to tape it back together. And then, when he finally got a brand new one that he could play with, he gave it to me, and he kept the broken one. And I still have that drumstick that he gave to me," Oriana said.
Kelloggsville Rockets also recognized Triton Thomas and Cameron Cyranoski. Their families also felt incredibly grateful for this young girl's actions to remember their boys.
