A group of parents from Valencia Valley Elementary School came together Thursday morning to form a “Quarantine Cruisers Caravan” in an effort to bring their community together as concerns over the coronavirus continue to grow.

On Friday, officials with the majority of the public school districts announced that they would be temporarily shutting down all on-campus education in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus.

As a result, thousands of students from across the Santa Clarita Valley are at home during the week, away from the friends and teachers that they would usually see.

In an attempt to keep their campus community together, Kelly Berry, president of the Valencia Valley Elementary Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), worked with several of the families from the school to assemble a group to visit the neighborhoods of their students.

The group dubbed themselves the “Quarantine Cruisers Caravan,” with the mission of spreading good cheer and community spirit during these stressful times.

“We really just wanted to band together and show support for the families and the students that are home,” said Heather Zakar, a Valencia Valley parent. “We decorated our cars, and the idea was just to spread the love and show our support.”

Parents and children loaded up their vehicles with balloons, banners and even the Valencia Valley Viking mascot before driving around the neighborhoods near Granary Square in an impromptu parade.

“There were elderly people crying, and kids at their windows waiving, it was so much more fun than what I anticipated,” said Zakar. “It brought emotion in a good way to people’s faces”

Zakar noted that it is during times such as now, when businesses, events and schools are closed due to the pandemic, that communities should support one another.

“We’re all here, and in times like this it’s great to feel a community pull together,” said Zakar.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.