This year, the class of 2024 will attend their graduation ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Traditionally, the ceremony has been held at Rolling Hills Community Church, so what are the benefits of this change?
Kelly Schmidt, the principal here at Wilsonville High School, offers her insights into the decisions behind this switch. Schmidt says, “The main reason we chose to leave Rolling Hills was the size of the venue. We have had to limit graduates to only getting 6 tickets.”
Over the past years, there have been many complaints from families wanting more tickets, whether it be because they wanted grandparents and extended family to attend or because 6 tickets simply weren’t enough for bigger families to bring everyone.
Even though the Veterans Memorial Coliseum offers unlimited tickets for each of the graduating seniors, there are a couple of downsides to the new venue as well. One of the biggest is location. Because the Veterans Memorial Coliseum is located in Downtown Portland, there is always the possibility of being stuck in traffic or the struggle of parking.
Schmidt continues, commenting that “we know that dealing with parking isn’t fun, but were hoping the benefits would outweigh those challenges.”
Schmidt also mentioned how West-Linn changed its venue to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. West-Linn made this change last year, and with everything running smoothly for them, the admin is hoping that we will have the same success.
Cari Gunter, who works in the attendance office, has in the past, worked for a school who had their ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum as well. Gunter explained that the Veterans Memorial Coliseum follows the exact same rules and regulation guidelines as the Moda Center, which is located right next door.
Gunter wishes to remind all graduates and their families that “they don’t allow big bags, everybody can take their small bags but it will be checked, and with gifts, they’ll let you take smaller gifts in, but not big huge ones.”
Other details that Gunter touched on were that the venue doesn’t allow for helium balloons to be brought inside, there is a small parking fee, and that there are no actual physical tickets. She wants to remind families to check the rules and regulation guidelines before the ceremony so that everyone knows what to expect and things can continue to run smoothly.
Gunter also mentioned that, since the Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a bigger venue, it can be just a little more nerve wracking standing up in front of the crowd. Gunter explains that “I think it’s really important for kids to pay attention at the rehearsal part [of graduation] so maybe they won’t be as nervous.”
Nerves and all, graduation is a big moment in students’ lives. Admin is hoping that making the switch to a bigger venue will allow students the opportunity to share this milestone with all their family members, without the worry of not having enough tickets.