City and county schools prepare for graduations

By STEVEN NALLEY
citybeat@bellsouth.net [1]

High schools across Starkville and Oktibbeha County are preparing for graduation ceremonies this month, with an estimated total of 341 seniors preparing for the next phases of their lives.
An estimated 230 students will graduate from Starkville High School at their ceremony Sunday, May 15 at 3 p.m at Mississippi State University’s Humphrey Coliseum. Sean McDonnall, assistant principal at SHS, said the event had been planned for a Saturday as usual, but snow days extended the final half-day of school to a full day and forced SHS to consider other options.
“The date was set for May 20,” McDonnall said. “MSU has a baseball game with Louisiana State University that evening, so the only time we could’ve gotten Humphrey Coliseum was at 1 p.m., and that threw too many monkey wrenches into people trying to get to graduation. It was too early in the day. We looked at other options, and this was the only date the Hump was available.”
Starkville Academy will hold its graduation ceremony at MSU’s Newell-Grissom Building Friday, May 13 at 7 p.m., with an estimated 47 graduates. The school will also hold a baccalaureate service at First United Methodist Church Tuesday, May 10 at 7 p.m.
Starkville Christian School will hold its graduation ceremony at First Baptist Church’s outreach center at 7 p.m. May 13. Janice Moore, administrative assistant at SCS, said only five students will be graduating there.
“Our whole school, from four years old all the way through graduation, is only 197 total,” Moore said. “It’s a really small school.
The Starkville Sportsplex will host graduation ceremonies May 21 for both West Oktibbeha County High School and East Oktibbeha County High School. An estimated 22 seniors will graduate from WOCHS at 11 a.m., and an estimated 37 will graduate from EOCHS at 4 p.m.
Starkville Daily News will publish a graduation section with photos and more details about these graduates in the May 15 edition.