Should the weather cooperate, Friday night’s Mexico High School graduation ceremonies will look familiar to who attended events before the pandemic year.

The school plans a time-honored commencement, to be held outside at Hawthorne Heights, the football field. With the district under green conditions on their COVID warning system, there will be no limits to capacity. And the mask mandate has been amended, dropping the requirement for outdoor events.

“There will be some minor changes,” said Mexico principal Brad Ellebracht. “But the ceremony will be very traditional.”

A year ago, preparations for graduation were riddled with uncertainties. Lockdown conditions were in place as the pandemic ravaged the area.

Administrators decided to delay the event until July and dramatically shorten the ceremony. They also limited graduates to four guests in order to maintain social distancing.

“It wasn't ideal, but just like everything else from last spring and summer, we did the best we could with what we knew,” Ellebracht observed. “All in all it went pretty well.”

There are always unknowns in the planning process. The names of those earning Valedictorian and Salutatorian are not finalized until a few days before the event. And until grades a known, a few students remain on the bubble for graduation.

Otherwise, it’s a long process — especially this year.

Ellebracht says concerns over the extent of the pandemic caused them to start work on Friday’s ceremonies immediately after last year’s graduation. But as the school successfully navigated in school learning, the process became more routine.

“This year we just had to be patient and hope the pandemic allowed us to plan for graduation the way we needed to,” he added.

Mexico’s graduation is scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m. Missouri Military Academy follows on Saturday, with Community R-6 ceremonies taking place on Sunday. North Callaway closes out festivities on May 27.