Graduation

Over 24,000 graduates, family members and friends come to St. Lucie Public Schools Graduation ceremonies at the Fenn Center to celebrate the achievement of their loved ones.

Student Ambassadors

Student Ambassadors have been an integral part of commencement. The School Ambassador program provides an opportunity for outstanding students to serve as official hosts and goodwill ambassadors for their respective school. Student Ambassadors represent their school and SLPS with the highest level of integrity and professionalism. These students are typically representative of class officers or student council.

The Chief Faculty Marshal leads the procession, this person is typically the Teacher of the Year for that respective school. Faculty members are also chosen to serve as marshals and to assist with the ceremony. The marshals are easily identified by their lead position in the faculty and student processional lines.

The dais party is the first group in the procession to enter the arena. The group consists of the superintendent, the school board members, the assistant superintendents and executive directors, the schools administration, and student leadership, and invited honored guests, such as the commencement speaker and recipients of awards. This group is followed by the graduates and participating faculty. When the graduates and members of the dais reach their seats, the processional ends. At this point the chief faculty marshal declares the candidates for graduation to be assembled and the ceremony begins.

The caps and gowns worn at commencement connect contemporary graduates with scholarly tradition that dates back as long as universities have existed. Clerics, ecclesiastics, and scholars wore hoods or caps and heavy gowns at European universities during the Middle Ages. Beginning in the middle of the fourteenth century, scholars wore an academic costume of “bunge and sand-colored habits.” A costume for commencement has been a tradition since the beginning of higher education in America.

In 1895, the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume was created, and a standard code of academic dress for commencements was adopted. It calls for the existing cap and gown (the traditional bachelor’s gown with long, open, pointed sleeves) and the master’s gown (with its long sleeves hanging down from the elbow) to set apart the graduates at the undergraduate and graduate levels.