BILLINGS — The students walking through the doors of Beartooth Elementary on Friday morning looked a little older than usual.
For the last four years, Travis Neimeyer, the school's principal, has invited graduating high school seniors who once attended Beartooth back for one last walk through the hallways of their old school. It is a way to close the chapter on childhood before heading into the next.
Watch students take their final lap below:
“It’s just another way to kind of come full circle and bond again at the end of everything,” said Neimeyer.
Even though their shoes are bigger and their voices have changed, Neimeyer still sees the same wide-eyed kids he once sent off to recess.
“This is a family. We refer to ourselves here as ‘The Beartooth Family.’ So, these kids coming back (are) also family," said Niemeyer.
While many schools describe themselves as families, at Beartooth, the sentiment is lived daily, especially for Brenda Fowler.
For her, the ties go beyond the professional. Her daughter, Kassie Armer, once walked those same hallways as an elementary student. This year, Kassie returned as one of the seniors making that final lap.
“The kids just love seeing her. She comes in once in a while, brings me a coffee or helps out,” said Fowler.
That final walk was more than just a tradition for the two of them. Kassie is the youngest of five children.
“(The walk) just showed me how fast time moves and how many moments we take for granted," said Armer. "I never would have thought when I was in fifth grade that I would be graduating so soon. It just went by so fast."
For her mother, it was the end of an era—both as a teacher and as a parent.
“Graduation is definitely an emotional time. Tomorrow, we walk the stage. I don’t know how I’m gonna feel. I feel like it just hasn’t registered yet,” said Armer.
