Meeker High School Class of 2017 Baccalaureate tonight

RBC | Today is the last day of school for all underclass students in Meeker. The last day for this year’s seniors was a week ago. Graduation activities for the Class of 2017 begin in earnest this morning with commencement rehearsal at 8 a.m. and the senior class hosting the Meeker Board of Education (BOE) for a 9:30 a.m. brunch. Saturday, at 10 a.m. in Starbuck Stadium (unless inclement weather forces a move into the gymnasium), Meeker School District RE-1 expects to send 54 graduates on to their next adventure, according to Principal Amy Chinn.
Chosen by the senior class, head high school secretary and former three-term Meeker mayor, Mandi Etheridge, will give Saturday’s commencement address. Etheridge was graduated from Brantley High School in Longwood, Fla., and earned her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University, majoring in hospitality administration while minoring in French.
Etheridge came to Meeker with her husband, Jason Hightower, in the summer of 2001, from Atlanta, Ga., as he took the job of school psychologist and then, after six years, became principal at Meeker Elementary School. Hightower passed away in January 2015, after battling brain cancer for nearly a year. He served as the staff psychologist and elementary school principal for most of this year’s graduates. Etheridge accepted the high school position in spring of 2015.
Baccalaureate for the senior class will be held tonight at 7 p.m., hosted by the Meeker Ministerial Alliance in the high school auditorium. The MMA is the association of Christian ministers of Meeker member churches and is dedicated to: faith in Jesus Christ, unity in the Holy Spirit, fellowship, friendship and service to the Meeker community. According to the MMA chair, Aaron Zielinske, pastor of the Assembly of God church, Baccalaureate will be led by eight Meeker ministers with the primary address to be given by Pastor Richard Ford from the Church at Meeker. Baccalaureate is not sponsored by Meeker High School.
Graduating from MHS means having been enrolled in eight full-time, seven-class semesters and satisfactorily completing the required credits in language arts, math, social studies including U.S. history and American government, science, career technical (vocational) education, teen life and health skills, fine arts and physical education or three sports seasons, and electives.
A credit is defined as the successful completion of a course which meets a minimum of four days per week for a minimum of 50 minutes daily for at least 36 weeks or the equivalent. Successful completion means that the student obtained a passing grade for the course.
The Meeker Board of Education policy on graduation states, “Graduation from high school is a culminating event that results from the foundations built at the elementary and middle levels. Graduation is a collaborative effort among levels in a student’s public school career. Each level of school and each staff member or parent/guardian who instructs or counsels a student shares responsibility for the ultimate ability of that student to demonstrate proficiency in the academic standards and to meet the expectations for graduation.”
Meeker High School teachers and staff as well as BOE members will be participating in Saturday’s commencement. Principal Chinn told the Herald Times, “Graduation is an exciting time at MHS. It is rewarding for the staff to see these seniors move on to the next step of their lives.”