KANSAS CITY, Mo. (July 21, 2020) –- Royals Sr. Vice President-Baseball Operations/General Manager Dayton Moore is honoring area seniors by recording a commencement speech for Kansas City Public Schools Class of 2020 graduations that were changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“On behalf of the Kansas City Royals and our entire community, we are extremely proud of the Kansas City Public Schools Class of 2020,” said Moore. “We have a strong and committed heart for the next generation of leaders. This class is positioned well to lead strong in the future. No one will ever forget the Class of 2020.”

Seniors at East High School, Southeast High School, Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts, Central High School, Northeast High School and Lincoln College Preparatory Academy were honored in special ceremonies. Rather than a virtual graduation, groups of graduates were able to “walk the stage” in front of a small gathering of family members and receive their diplomas. The ceremonies were all recorded and will air on KCPS-TV during the last week of July.

"We are extremely grateful to Dayton Moore and everyone at the Kansas City Royals for joining us as we honor all of our extraordinary students who earned their diplomas this year," Superintendent Mark Bedell said. "This has been an extremely tough year for the Class of 2020. These seniors are smart, innovative and resilient, and they deserve to be recognized in this way. We're privileged to have partners like the Royals who are there with us to help launch our graduates to the next stage of their lives!"

The Royals also displayed each graduate’s name by high school on the CrownVision video board at Kauffman Stadium and shared the feed to each high school to use during the ceremonies. Moore’s message can be viewed at this link: https://youtu.be/JrO6-ImlCdk.

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