Chase Harvell pulled into Airport High School’s parking lot Friday morning in southeastern Michigan for his final time before graduation next week.
While Harvell was operating a family vehicle like he had many times previously, this particular ride had a maximum speed of about 25 mph.
Harvell joined dozens of other graduating students who ditched their regular cars and trucks, instead showing up in farm equipment, all-terrain vehicles, golf carts and other unconventional transportation.
The festivities were part of Tractor Day, an annual tradition at the Carleton, Michigan school that began in the 1980s. The school sits approximately 35 miles south of Detroit. While most students made it to campus by 7:30 a.m., the celebration continued all day with games, music and catered food from a nearby restaurant.
This yearly gathering serves both as an enjoyable farewell event for graduating students and a way to pay tribute to the region’s farming roots.
“We’re just a farm school,” Harvell said. “It’s a tradition. Everyone’s done it before us. We just carry it on.”
The fourth-generation farmer operated a Case 305 Magnum on Friday, the identical piece of equipment his family uses to work the fields where they cultivate soybeans and corn. His older brother had driven the same tractor to the celebration three years earlier.
Myah Hoppert showed up early in a John Deere 8300 that was so familiar with the route it could nearly navigate to school independently. The same machine had transported Hoppert’s two sisters and eight cousins to Airport High during previous Tractor Day events.
“Last day with all my friends,” said Hoppert, who intends to pursue nursing studies at Monroe County Community College in the coming year.
Friday represented “one final hurrah,” according to Austin Neddo, who potentially had the oldest vehicle of the day. He drove a refurbished 1940 Farmall A, equipment that previously belonged to Neddo’s great-great-grandfather.
Jocelyn Kleman, serving as class treasurer, helped coordinate Friday’s activities, which she called “our last recess.” She anticipated that 150 of approximately 180 seniors would participate in Tractor Day.
Kleman and two classmates arrived in an off-road vehicle called a “side-by-side.” She had eagerly awaited this day for four years, having previously only watched the annual celebration from classroom windows like other underclassmen.
“You could just see how much fun the seniors are having,” said Kleman, who plans to attend Michigan State University in the fall. “What a nostalgic event this really is.
“And how much the seniors look forward to it each year.”
