STAFF REPORT

Graduation is a day full of emotions for both parents and graduates. It is a very special day that catapults the students into the rest of their lives, whether it be college, military, or the workforce. On April 15, the senior class was handed their Red Books and found out that graduation was already decided to be held inside due to the construction on Rogers Stadium. This announcement was led by many “boos” from students showing their hatred of that announcement.

This is not just our graduation; it also belongs to our school and our parents. When you are outside for graduation, the stage is so far away for our parents to see us. They want to see our emotions as you cross the stage and sitting in the seats as you throw the caps into the air at the end of the ceremony. Being outdoors takes away all of that for our parents. This is also a very emotional night for them, too.

The Rogers Stadium construction is the only reason graduation is inside. In June, the construction team will be busy installing the track and building everything else that needs to be put in the stadium. Many students are saying that the construction should be halted for one day only because they let the football team play a game at the stadium.

However, it is not possible to halt the construction for one day only, as it will take a day or two to set up the stage and all the chairs and clean up the field to make it look nice. The stadium does not need any extra delays because we do not want to miss out on another football or soccer season. Yes, graduation is a very important event for the seniors and the school, but that does not warrant delaying an entire home season for the fall sports teams that play on that field.

Understandably, some seniors are forced to decrease their guest list of family and friends with an indoor graduation. However, it’s not as bad at it seems. Students can still have a lot of people come to the inside graduation, but when they do not have enough tickets for all of them, they are able to go to a different room and watch the graduation from a screen. They are still there to support the graduates and watch as they start the journey into adulthood.

During the April 23 School Board meeting, concerned parents of the Senior Class came in and pleaded to the School Board to change the already set construction schedule and hold the graduation outside. The Board told them that it is hard to get things like that done. They would have to pay for permits to use the field and it would be a waste of money for them if they would go through all that work and change it to outside just for it to rain and get moved inside. They didn’t want to risk that.

The decision for the graduation location has already been made. While it is not what the students want, we have to respect the school’s decision and realize that they are making the decision looking toward the future. They would have the graduation outside if they were able to, but that is not possible right now.

Yes, this is the last high school memory for the seniors and their families and we want them to have the best time as possible. But the location has little effect on that. If you only focus on where it is held, then you will not have a very good graduation. If you focus on why you are there and what you did to get there, then it will be the best day of your life so far. You have to be optimistic about stuff like this; high school graduation is a once in a lifetime event for all of us. Just go and have fun being around your class for one final time.