Weather concerns likely won't change Dist. 203 graduation ceremonies

The weather played tricks all week on Naperville Unit District 203 officials as they attempted to pin down the exact date and location of their high school graduations.

But after both commencements went off without a hitch Wednesday evening, no one is rushing to call for moving future ceremonies indoors.

“It's is a valid question and one that we'll probably be asking again soon, but not today and not tomorrow,” District 203 spokeswoman Susan Rice said Thursday. “But from what we gathered from last night's ceremonies, the kids had a great time, their parents had a great time and the wind had a great time. But no one got rained on.”

Rice said the district surveyed parents and the community in the past five years about their desire to have commencement ceremonies on their school's football field versus a neutral location such as College of DuPage where Indian Prairie Unit District 204 will hold its ceremonies.

“The response at the time was parents very strongly wanted the commencement to be at the school location so that's what we've honored,” Rice said. “I imagine we may be asking that question again but we need to decide who we ask that question of and who makes the final decision.”

If it were up to Naperville Central Principal Bill Wiesbrook, his first choice would always be to host the ceremony at the school where the students have invested at least the last four years.

“I understand weather is a variable but my vote would be to keep it here because this is where they went to school and that stadium is where students performed, whether they were in P.E. class, on the football team or in the band,” Wiesbrook said. “And aside from that, it's visually pretty here. There's something really striking and symbolic about our beautiful stadium packed with red caps and gowns and all the lights shining down on the students.”

Once the decision was made to proceed with the ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Wiesbrook said he made the call to hand out the diplomas before any of the usual speeches.

“We did the roll call first so we could get everyone across the stage before the storm rolled in,” Wiesbrook said. “But when we were done, it still hadn't begun to rain so we decided to let our four student speakers, who had all practiced and put so much into their remarks, go ahead.”

Across town at Naperville North, Principal Kevin Pobst said the decision was made to forgo the student speeches to get the students across the stage, in blustery winds, before the rains came. Those speeches, he said, will be recorded and made available on the school's website and included on the ceremony DVD available to families.

“The wind was certainly there but we were focused on the smiles on the faces of our students as they walked across the platform,” Pobst said. “We were concerned about the possibility of everyone getting rained on so we wanted to get through the roll call quickly to make it possible for families to gather on the field after if they wanted to.”

Despite the weather, Pobst said he has no preference for the location of future ceremonies. “It's not about me,” he said.

“There is a value being at your school site where students have spent the last four years,” Pobst said. “I think there's also a value in having a predictable site, time, parking, air conditioning and weather so families can make solid plans. We're fortunate to have never had to go inside but it's inevitable that we will so it's probably worth a look.”

If the discussion is had in district offices, Rice said, it likely won't happen until the paperwork and operations of this school year are complete.