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Very common in Atlanta. The problem with doing them in school property is that high schools here are quite large. My daughter's school had like 400 graduates and when you consider that each of them get 6 tickets for family members and then all the faculty, staff and admin that show up, it takes up LOTS of seats and there really is no place at the schools that can seat that many people.
400 students= 800 parents. 2 tickets only, take polaroids for the siblings, extended family threw the parties at home after the ceremony. That's how we solved this locally when I was growing up, and the size of a gymnasium was calculated in terms beyond just sports, but in school graduation capacity. Decided locally makes sense to me.
I know...have it both ways....those who don't care, have it at the mega church. Those who find the megachurch idea offensive, have it online. Click on "print" to get diploma.
Except for that gigantic cross, the Christian bible, etc.... and the fact that the money used to rent the sanctuary is used to promote religion.
There aren't always crosses and whatnot everywhere. Maybe a stainted glass window or two. But space is space and if you can hold a church service in a warehouse or school gym (and they do, everywhere, all the time) then you can hold a graduation in church owned property if it's convenient for you.
Nobody is less religious than I, and I didn't burst into flames or feel like I was promoting a church or anything when I went to see performances in a church auditorium.
I don't think you realize how large many of these high schools are. I graduated from a suburban Atlanta high school in 2006 and we had a graduating class of 800 (bigger than my college class). Our stadium would not hold the 6 people per graduate, much less the graduates themselves! Plus it's late May which can range from a humid 95 degrees outside to a monsoon. Not smart.
We graduated in the Gwinnett Arena, a venue about an hour away from my house with the traffic. It's an indoor stadium used to house concerts like Lady Gaga, for size reference.
That's very much on par with what I was imagining. My high school was the smallest in my district (2000 kids - about 500 in my graduating class). The largest high school in my district had about 4000 students (at the time I graduated there were 4 high schools, today there are 6). The district football stadium stadium holds about 7000 people, which is more than large enough to accommodate a graduation (there are two stadiums now and the new one is even larger). That 7000 person capacity is about twice as large as the biggest church in Colorado. For my high school graduation the bleachers on the West side of the stadium weren't used at all. In the Denver area there are probably 15 high school football stadiums roughly that size - plus there are many other public facilities of equal or greater size that the state (or city) allows schools to use for graduations (The Colorado Convention Center, Red Rocks amphitheater, multiple facilities at CU Boulder, CU Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Arapahoe county fairgrounds, etc, etc, etc). I would think metro Atlanta has equivalent facilities.
Last edited by hammertime33; 12-04-2010 at 11:43 PM..
There aren't always crosses and whatnot everywhere. Maybe a stainted glass window or two. But space is space and if you can hold a church service in a warehouse or school gym (and they do, everywhere, all the time) then you can hold a graduation in church owned property if it's convenient for you.
Nobody is less religious than I, and I didn't burst into flames or feel like I was promoting a church or anything when I went to see performances in a church auditorium.
Yes, if you are referring to many auditoriums in large Protestant churches. But Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Episcopal, etc churches have lots of religious art and altars that would make some people very uncomfortable.
Here's a shocking proposition. Hold it at the school in question.
Wait for it...
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