I want my grad TV

Brian Wilson

For the past few years the Medford School District has held graduation ceremonies outside at Raider Field.

Initially the move was made out of practicality with the first year being a delayed graduation ceremony during the pandemic when they couldn’t hold an indoor event at the Simek Center.

The move was a hit with parents and families allowing a large number of people to crowd the stands and take part in the milestone ceremony. It also saved the school district some money from renting the Simek Center and doing all the set up needed for the ceremony.

It also brought with it some of its own issues and expenses. Particularly making sure everyone in the audience can see the speaker and presentation of diplomas. When the school held the ceremony in the Simek Center a massive screen was set up behind the stage with projection equipment blowing it up to many times life size. It was also handy for showing the recorded performance of the senior song and senior slide show with all the graduates as babies and current.

As a side note, I am surprised that there are no television programs that just show cute pictures of small children and kittens in an endless loop maybe with some Michael Bolton music playing softly in the background. People eat that stuff up.

The challenge of moving outside is that projection equipment needs things to be pretty dark to be visible. Since starting graduation at 9 p.m. is not a viable solution the district began renting large high-definition, LED displays which work fantastic, but are pricey. This year they cost $7,378.

As they should, district leaders have questioned if the expense is worth the benefit. It is their job to get the most bang out of the taxpayer dollar and with perennially tight budgets the question deserves to be asked if they are a need or just something nice to have.

While the elimination of the televisions would save some money, it would also reduce visibility, particularly for those on the far edges of the bleachers. While the district could attempt to have the senior song performed live, this brings with it, its own added complexity and the need to bring out more equipment, and again, have issues with visibility. Having no television displays would also end the slideshow of baby and senior pictures being shown.

With the exception of the fireworks, which are paid for by money raised by the graduating class, the high school budget covers the rest of the cost of graduation. School leaders are seeking community feedback on the displays.

As a parent of a student going into his senior year at Medford Area Senior High School and as a taxpayer in the district I am in favor of keeping the displays. I personally watch most of the ceremony squinting through the viewfinder of my camera while taking pictures for the paper. If I was up in the stands, I would find it frustrating to only see my loved one as a little red blob in the field of little red blobs.

I would argue that having the screens, or similar display is as necessary as having a microphone and speakers projecting the sound of the people presenting.

I can understand how some would consider it a frivolous expense, but at the same time, there are few activities more unifying for a community than the high school graduation ceremonies. These are big deals, particularly in smaller communities like those in Taylor County and they should be big deals as being a major life milestone.

Arguably if Medford were in the situation of needing to decide between television screens at graduation or textbooks for math class, the curriculum needs would take the priority, but that is not the case.

The display screens are something that are nice to have for those attending the graduation ceremony, but there is nothing wrong with having nice things especially when they make it better for the capacity crowds of community members that join in the graduation ceremonies each year.

When you see a school board member or school official let them know how you feel about if the district should keep the display screens so they aren’t making a decision in a vacuum.

Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News.