News Photo by Julie Riddle

Greeted by signs, snacks, bubbles, silly string, and air hugs, the 2020 fifth-grade class of Hinks Elementary School in Alpena was welcomed back for a drive-through celebration of their school year on Thursday evening. Students in cars thanked their teacher, Kaitlin Pitkowicz — a first-year Alpenan who has been teaching her students online for the past several months — and chatted with school personnel, some of whom were armed with cans of silly string, which they sprayed gleefully at the cheerful students, as long as parent-drivers gave consent. The former fifth-grade students’ next stop is Thunder Bay Junior High School, where they will begin classes in the fall.