Waupaca plans Wednesday ceremony

By James Card

The Waupaca School Board voted to hold the 2023 high school graduation ceremony at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 31.

The board was provided a list of possible dates and some conflicted with sports events.

Patrick Phair was the only school board member to vote against the date.

“With this issue last spring I have received more negative comments, probably more than anything else prior with the exception of maybe Covid,” Phair said. “So I’m going to vote no on this because most of the people that talked to me – and I’m going to represent them. I see your point of view and it worked great and there are a lot of benefits, but the constituents that talked to me said they would prefer it on a weekend. Mostly because of grandparents coming and people wanting to stay overnight. I understand that and there is very little alternative if you do it in the middle of the week. I do believe there are a goodly number of people that would like to see it on a weekend,”

Betty Manion said she received a lot of feedback from parents who worked out of town and had to get back in time for the ceremony.

She suggested Friday night as an alternative for out-of-town people to attend in that it was easier to take off earlier from work on a Friday afternoon than a weeknight.

She pointed out that the original reason for the weeknight date was so that the faculty could participate. Last year’s ceremony involved faculty members dressing in gowns and caps as quasi-members of the ceremony. She wondered how many really participated.

Principal Michael Werbowsky said all high school staff was there and their feedback was positive. He pointed out that all teachers of all grade levels are invited to participate.

“I really enjoyed seeing the faculty. I really enjoyed the gowns. It gave it a collegiate type atmosphere. It was a good thing, Mike. I like the way it was handled,” said Ron Brooks.

Other points discussed: by having it on a weeknight, the weekend was free for scheduling graduation parties. Most agreed the evening atmosphere in the gymnasium is better that sweating it outside on a spring afternoon like in the past. Also, the graduation is streamed online for those unable to attend.