KAPAA, Kauai >> A boy poses in his football uniform, his face the very image of high school glory.

A girl in a sundress ambles down dusty train tracks as though a lilting country song was playing in her head.

All along the roadway in Kapaa town on Kauai, there are carefully curated images of the graduating class of 2019.

Dozens of banners are tied to the fence around the ball field at Kapaa beach park. Each one features beautiful photography, like official publicity shots, printed on vinyl pieces about 2-1/2 feet high and 4 to 6 feet long. Most of them say “congrats” in a stylized font and bear the student’s name and the proud year, 2019. Right now there’s more “congrats” than fence.

Every small town gets a little giddy come graduation season, but Kauai has taken it to a new level. There are similar rows of graduation banners in Lahaina on Maui and around Waianae on Oahu — also communities with close ties to their neighborhood schools. On Kauai the banners started appearing during graduation season several years ago, and every year there seem to be more and fancier. Along the road that runs past Kilauea and Princeville on the North Shore, there are other celebratory graduation banners made with spray paint on bedsheets, which used to be the budget option. Now the vinyl banners with the glamorous photography can be ordered online for about $25.

One banner shows a young man holding a soccer ball, his face twisted into a fierce warrior yell.

Another features a boy riding a motorbike through a dazzling cloud of red dirt.

A boy poses holding a fish he caught that’s nearly half his size.

Some banners are split screen, with a formal shot on one side and an action shot on the other. So much care is put into each tribute, each real-life social media post.

In case you were wondering, yes, these banners violate Hawaii sign ordinances.

Any banner that can be seen from a public road needs a permit from the county building department. The sign ordinance also states that the banners cannot be put up more than a week before the event and must be taken down within 48 hours afterward. These have been up more than a week before graduation.

And in case you were wondering, yes, banners for political campaigns, though essentially the same, are exempt from sign ordinances. Sigh.

The Kauai Outdoor Circle keeps an eye on such matters, but this is a tough one when so many families are celebrating their children’s milestone event. It’s not just that all the signs go up; it’s also that many of them won’t come down and will end up weather-beaten and tattered on the fence.

“Please, everyone, be good neighbors. Follow the sign regulations. It’s to everyone’s benefit. We all can help control visual clutter by following the rules,” said Maureen Murphy, president of the Kauai Outdoor Circle.

All those banners hanging together like that do make quite an impression, and though it may be visual clutter, it’s also a testament to a lot of kids who worked hard and a feel-good moment for a community wishing the best for their future. Hopefully, they’ll be carefully taken down and kept for posterity after the commencement exercises. After all, politicians need their fence space.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.