Both pomp, and circumstance, are peeking around the corner for Monongalia County Schools.
May graduation dates have all been set for the county’s three public high schools, plus the Mon County Technical Education Center.
“It’s time once again for our seniors and our completers to go forth,” said Donna Talerico, the district’s deputy superintendent. “That didn’t take long, did it?”
The proceedings this year will be a little more formal for MTEC, the county tech center, Talerico said.
Completers will pick up their certificates in ceremonies at 7 p.m. May 22 at the Morgantown Readiness Center.
Before, as a byproduct of the pandemic, students went forth in staggered morning and afternoon events in the parking lot at MTEC’s Mississippi Street campus.
The evening, indoor ceremony gives a chance for all the programs to be represented, and for all the parents and spouses to be there, too, Talerico said.
“We’re trying to get back to some of the things as they were before,” she said, referring to the pre-COVID days before 2020, when the contagion forced the shuttering of every public school in the state’s 55 counties.
One thing that won’t change, post-pandemic, she said, are the outdoor commencement exercises on the football fields of Mon’s three public high schools.
University High’s ceremony will be 7 p.m. May 24.
Seniors at Morgantown High will be awarded their diplomas 10 a.m. May 25.
Clay-Battelle’s Class of 2024 takes its walk across the stage on its football field at 3 p.m. May 26.
Talerico, a former teacher and principal, said she personally likes the outdoor ceremonies on the football field, which is a big setting for any school.
There are moms and dads in the stands, she said. Grandparents, too.
“It’s usually a picture-perfect setting,” she said. “The only thing that might give us a little heartburn would be a rain cloud.”
So, what would Talerico, if she still had her principal hat, say to the seniors?
“There are just so many opportunities out there,” she said.
“Every door is an opportunity. They just need to open those doors and walk through. That’s what I would tell them.”
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