Caps, Gowns, and Tassels—Oh, My!
A look at graduation ceremonies across the Midwest
By Breann Bierman

High school seniors anxiously await the transition of high school students to high school grads	Submitted Photo

The phone rang. Sarah Luebke answered, had a brief conversation, and panicked.

Jumping in her car, Luebke sped five miles to the park. The sky was overcast and promised rain. She found a parking spot six blocks from the park which, given the place and time, seemed like a miracle. Luebke ran the whole way in heels, gown and cap, arriving at the foot of the stage in time to join her fellow 800 Sheboygan High School graduates who were forming a line.

School officials had moved up the graduation ceremony by an hour to prevent it from being rained out and she hadn’t heard the news on the radio. When she arrived, her friends admitted they were worried, but they had figured Luebke knew about the change in plans, saying, “You’re usually the responsible one.”

It wasn’t that Luebke was irresponsible. The simple truth is that planning graduation ceremonies, parties, and year-end celebrations is more complicated than it seems. High school students, college students, a high school principal, and a school official share some of their experiences planning the perfect end to high school with Brink.

Q- How are seniors getting involved in planning the graduation ceremony and associated activities?

A- For some schools there is a simple, basic schedule when graduation rolls around in the spring.

“There is sort of a set template, but the students vote for a speaker, audition singers, and vote on the class motto,” said Marybeth Redmond, a clerical supervisor at Central High School in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The first graduation ceremony for two students at Central was held in 1870. This year, roughly 430 students will graduate and all of these students take part in voting for a graduation speaker. Dave Winfield, a Central High School alum who went on to play baseball for the University of Minnesota before joining the major leagues, was among the individuals chosen as a speaker for this year’s graduation ceremony.

Q- How do high school seniors prevent becoming stressed out when it comes to diplomas, cap and gown, class song, and yearbook?

A- Redmond said the parents take action in planning a night for seniors around graduation that includes, “whatever activities they can find, by having hypnotists or massages.” It is a fun-filled evening a lot of students participate in.

At Stockton High School in Stockton, Illinois, a committee presents ideas to the whole class to then be voted on, Stockton High School Principal Robert Barrows said. Smaller groups do a good deal of coordinating, which makes it easier on the class as a whole.

Q- What kind of outside activities are incorporated with the ceremony: church, picnics, banquets, etc?

A- There are many different activities that are relatively easy to set up as the “last hurrah” before classmates go their separate ways. At North High School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the class goes bowling the night of graduation. Luebke said it is a good time for classmates to give out graduation invitations because most classmates attend.

Seniors have a campout in a local field in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. “It will be two nights before graduation and pretty much the entire class goes. We have our little cliques but overall we get along,” said Mineral Point senior Curtis Fielder.  

Q-What is the biggest fear about graduation?

A- For sophomore Evan Willhite at Lynnville-Sully High School in Sully, Iowa, a worry comes from something most people hope to have the luxury of money, money, money. Many students struggle with staying financially afloat but looking into grants and scholarships can help ease future debt.

Fielder confessed he is worried about living on his own and becoming a grown up. “But I am looking forward to it because I need a change. I am so used to my surroundings right now,” he said.

Allie Rivard, a graduate of Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Minnesota, said even though she didn’t know what to study at college, it has worked out so far.

“I didn’t have this dream my whole childhood, like I want to be a doctor or lawyer,” Rivard said. “I am still not sure, but I am on a path at least.”

Luebke’s advice is a bit more obvious: don’t rely on friends to remind you of important information, like the time of your graduation!