Instead of assembling on the school lawn or in the high school gym, the class’s 67 members and their guests spread out in their vehicles Friday at Hathaway’s Drive-In Theatre in North Hoosick.

Faculty and staff greeted the graduates with cheers and sirens and gave them their diplomas and awards from a table set up at the entrance. Graduates parked facing the big screen; guests faced the smaller screen at the drive-in’s rear.

Goss said the theater was able to use both screens for the event.

“Everyone will have a good view,” she said before the start of the ceremony. “This is very unique. It’s certainly a graduation they’ll never forget.”

People opened their car doors and hatchbacks, perched on their pickup truck beds, and milled around, sharing laughter, taking photos and visiting before the ceremony began. Starting time was 9 p.m., far enough into twilight so images on the screens were visible.

The entire ceremony, from the Pledge of Allegiance led by Class President Jordan Brown to closing remarks by school Superintendent Douglas Silvernell, was recorded beforehand and shown on the screens. Goss said the school hired a videographer to assemble the clips. It ran just under an hour, the usual time for a CCS graduation, she said.

The format allowed some fun that couldn’t have happened at a regular graduation. Goss started her address to the graduates with a spoof on Netflix’s “Tiger King.” A retiring teacher emphasized her prediction that graduates would “make a big splash” by doing a cannonball into her backyard pool.

In her remarks, Goss noted that the last day of in-person classes was March 13.

“This has been hard for all of us,” she said. Where universities may take months or longer to create online learning platforms, “we figured most of it out in weeks,” she said.

“Life throws some very robust obstacles in your path,” Goss said. “You can let it stop you, or let it teach you.”

The school community learned tolerance and resourcefulness, developed a capacity “to enjoy less,” and to be grateful for little things: family, haircuts, toilet paper and the daily routine of the school day, she said.

Goss promised the Class of 2020 a “COVID reunion” when conditions make it possible.

“Please keep in touch,” she said. “We are not done with you yet.”

Salutatorian Alice Roosevelt spoke about her struggles with social anxiety.

“What people choose to show is sometimes completely different from what they feel,” she said. By being open, she received the support she needed to pursue her dream of studying conservation biology at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

“It’s normal to feel challenged and OK to ask for help,” Roosevelt said.

Valedictorian Abigail Maher listed some of the challenges the Class of 2020 is facing: not just a pandemic, but also climate change and great social inequality.

“I look beyond to see hope,” said Maher, who will attend Yale University. “May we always appreciate the goodness in the world. Let the world be a slightly better place because you lived in it.”

Assemblyman Jake Ashby, R-East Greenbush, encouraged hard work, self-determination, and self-awareness. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, sent video congratulations.

The ceremony ended with a video of the graduates, in caps, gowns and masks, receiving dummy diplomas in the gym from Gifford and Silvernell. Each name was accompanied by cheers and horns honking.

Goss thanked the North Hoosick Fire Department for handling traffic and parking.