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When I was in HS and graduated more than 20 years ago, none of the schools in my district had anything in the school gyms. They were not big enough and most of the schools don’t have parking lots large enough to accommodate the guests. They were always held at outside facilities with ample parking. I was in a magnet program and we had a magnet valedictorian and a non-magnet valedictorian. At that time, if you were in national honor society, you got to wear the national honor society robe that was white and called up first and everyone else wore the regular robe that was the school color and be called in the second set of graduates.
We just had our graduation with close to 1000 in the class. You pretty much have to game the system to be top 10 or valedictorian or salutatorian. Classes are on a 4.0 scale with AP classes being a 5.0. Music, theater and athletic classes hurt the grade point because they are only worth four points. There is a drive to get every AP class they can. One of the top 2 found a way to get the required PE class at a local gym instead of at school and since it wasn't school certified he got the credit, but no grade. He was able to bypass a few kids that way.
These kids were recognized and they had some impressive things in their 'resume'. They also skipped the social skills learned in school. These kids look good on paper, but I'm not sure I would want them working for me.
These days when so many kids go to college I also don't understand the need to make a big production out of a high school graduation. Years ago when that was the end of education for many kids I could see it being a big deal.
My son's high school graduation was in the Civic Center and I can't remember much about it. Now his college graduation WAS a big deal as he was the first person in our family (both sides) to graduate from college.
Our kids had 8th grade graduation. We thought it was stupid and asked why it was done. The principal said many (most?) of the kids would not graduate from high school, so this was the only graduation they would ever have. (We lived in a minority majority city where poverty was pretty high).
When we moved to a wealthier area, there was no 8th grade graduation ceremony. There was no question everyone was gong to complete high school and pretty much everyone goes to college. (Partially due to the failure of our schools to acknowledge trade school/apprenticeship as a perfectly respectable, well paying and honorable career path). Since everyone is going to college, maybe they sholud just skip high school graduation too?
Another funny thing I forgot about earlier. In recognition of the elimination of gender in our society, the school went from having boys in red robes and girls in white, to all red robes. In what may have been a form of protest, nearly all the girls wore white dresses and unzipped their robes for the after graduation gathering on the school lawn.
My daughters PhD graduation seems to be pretty important to her. She said she will fly back from whomever she is teaching to "walk" at her graduation. We found a seamstress who makes garb for SCA members for her job who will make my daughter some affordable robes at a reasonable price. However the patterns are not available. The robe companies with a monopoly on insane prices are not about to release patterns.
My son's MS is linked to a HS which has 10 years of history of 100% acceptable to a 4 year college upon graduation. This is a public charter in an urban district, where about 70% the MS and about 60% of the HS qualify for free or reduced fee lunch, and minority enrollment runs about 70% in both schools. So fortunately no one thinks that MS continuation exists because it's the only "graduation" ceremony a lot of these kids will make it through. As a matter of fact, they have been consistently referenced right from the start of MS as the "Class of 2022" and not by the year they leave MS.
My son's MS is linked to a HS which has 10 years of history of 100% acceptable to a 4 year college upon graduation. This is a public charter in an urban district, where about 70% the MS and about 60% of the HS qualify for free or reduced fee lunch, and minority enrollment runs about 70% in both schools. So fortunately no one thinks that MS continuation exists because it's the only "graduation" ceremony a lot of these kids will make it through. As a matter of fact, they have been consistently referenced right from the start of MS as the "Class of 2022" and not by the year they leave MS.
Well, that's obviously not the case for most schools, and someone will break that perfect record at your son's school at some point in time.
High School Class of '66. None of us would have dreamed of acting out at the Graduation ceremony. This was our first opportunity to present ourselves to the community as people who were on our way to becoming credible humans.
Funny how things have changed. These days we hardly have any leadership that's credible!
High School Class of '66. None of us would have dreamed of acting out at the Graduation ceremony. This was our first opportunity to present ourselves to the community as people who were on our way to becoming credible humans.
Funny how things have changed. These days we hardly have any leadership that's credible!
1965 grad here. If we had misbehaved at graduation, our principal would have marched us out into the parking lot and had us shot by a firing squad....LOL.
1965 grad here. If we had misbehaved at graduation, our principal would have marched us out into the parking lot and had us shot by a firing squad....LOL.
And I was one of the teachers detailed to sit with one or another student at graduation to ensure they didn't act out during the ceremony. There were usually 5 or 6 out of 250 every year who needed special handling to ensure they wouldn't be disruptive like they were almost every day during their 4 or 5 or even 6 years in high school.
High School Class of '66. None of us would have dreamed of acting out at the Graduation ceremony. This was our first opportunity to present ourselves to the community as people who were on our way to becoming credible humans.
Funny how things have changed. These days we hardly have any leadership that's credible!
Good point. Acting out at a ceremony like graduation would have shamed and horrified our parents and family. Now, it seems, some families have their "acts" all planned out in advance right along with the graduate.
At West Point commencement, all cheer for the GOAT.
An honored tradition.
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