MHS graduation to stay put for 2004 years ago
Staff writer
Commencement ceremonies for Marion High School will remain, at least in 2004, at the time where they have been for several years — at 4 p.m. on a mid-May Sunday.
Ken Arnhold, principal at MHS, advanced a proposal from several MHS students to move the graduation to 2 p.m. Sunday, or else have it sometime Saturday.
He made the suggestion at Monday night's Marion-Florence USD 408 Board of Education meeting.
Roger Hannaford III, board member, after much discussion by the board and Arnhold, said, "Let's leave it where it's at. I don't see a real good reason to move it" from 4 p.m. Sunday.
No motion to change the time or date of the graduation rite was made.
Having the ceremony on a Saturday might conflict with some colleges' graduation ceremonies, Arnhold said. And if the MHS ceremony were to be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, it would be at the same time as the Hillsboro and Centre high school rites, he said.
If the baccalaureate ceremony, with which the school district has nothing to do, were to be held on Wednesday in mid-May, and graduation three days later, on a Saturday, the Wednesday date would conflict with regional softball and baseball tourneys, Tod Gordon, Marion Middle School principal, pointed out.
Arnhold said maybe the 2 p.m. Sunday time could be "rotated," shared, with Hillsboro and Centre, with each school having its program at that time and day once every three years.
He said he "wouldn't hold my breath" on that plan working out, however.
The board agreed to continue for one year the Marion County Special Education Cooperative's lease of a building from USD 408, at the same rate as in the recent past.
The board approved, 4-0, participating in a property tax-abatement program for 10 years, for Marion Die & Fixture, on two costly pieces of equipment the company just bought.
Susan Cooper, economic development director for the City of Marion, sought the board's assent to the abatement.
The abatement and the machinery are expected to lead to additional jobs and MD&F, and more business for the company.
Marion High School drama and forensics teacher Janet Killough showed the board the Jester trophy won by the Moonshine Lullaby Trio, from Marion High's November production of "Annie, Get Your Gun."
The trophy was presented to three students from MHS on June 1, at Wichita, by Music Theatre of Wichita.
This is the second year MTW has handed out the awards, and the first year MHS has applied for any.
There are "probably 50 or 60 shows" (musical comedies, eligible for the awards) done in the state, total, in spring and fall of each school year, Killough said.
She said MHS might present "The Wizard of Oz" this fall. She and the new vocal music teacher have not yet decided.
The board will have its end-of-the-fiscal year meeting at 5 p.m. June 27 at the Administration Building.
