Graduation is a long-awaited and momentous celebration for students, teachers, and families alike. Proper recognition for students’ hard work is imperative, yet this year’s graduation ceremony is set to take place on a Monday evening, which has stirred up some disapproval considering its less-than-ideal scheduling.
As families play a large role in supporting their children throughout high school, they deserve the opportunity to continue to show their dedication at the graduation ceremony. However, many parents and guardians work until late in the evening, making the ceremony’s seven p.m. start time difficult. A family member working a nine-to-five job will surely feel overwhelmed between driving home from work, getting ready, and driving to school in a mere two hours. Parents and guardians are meant to feel relieved while thinking about their student receiving their diploma, but this time crunch might make the evening almost as stressful as junior year.
Saint Viator plans to have an e-learning day for freshmen, sophomores and juniors on May 20th, the day of graduation. This schedule allows siblings of soon-to-be-graduates to have more time to help their families prepare for the special evening and aims to remove some of the graduation day chaos. However, these students begin their final exams the following morning. With graduation set from seven to eight p.m., siblings of graduates may likely be impatient to get home to study and get a full night of sleep before their important exams. They may not even be able to enjoy the celebration and share the special evening with their families due to stress.
Many families wish to further the graduation festivities through a party after the ceremony. A Monday night graduation ceremony makes the planning of such a soirée challenging, as it is nearly impossible for it to take place directly after the ceremony. Families and friends with school and work the next day simply do not have time to celebrate on a random Monday night. Students typically stay at school after the ceremony to take photos and say goodbye to their friends and teachers, so even a small family dinner would end up taking place unusually late in the evening.
Many seniors also look forward to taking pictures on the big red lion in front of the school and on the beautiful campus grounds, especially as the middle of May brings beautiful sunshine and weather. The late start time of this year’s graduation ceremony eliminates the opportunity to capture this special atmosphere outside, leaving only the inside gyms for the final highschool photos.
Finally, by the end of senior year, highschoolers know that none of their success would be possible without their caring and committed teachers. Students want to celebrate with their mentors amidst the excitement of the evening. The unfortunate timing of graduation may cause stress for teachers, as they prepare to administer final exams the next day.
Even though it is impossible to remove the excitement from graduation season, the date and time of graduation greatly affects those involved and has room for improvement for future years of lion graduates.