There’s no uncertainty about the weather for graduation exercises at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the 99-candidate Rockdale High School class of 2018.
Rain, shine, or anything in between, it will be held in the spacious, air-conditioned RHS gym.
That’s because Tiger Field, the traditional site for RHS commencement, looks like the Brock defense after Jeff Miller’s Tiger football team demolished it at AT&T Stadium last Dec. 21.
Rockdale is getting a new football field and stadium on the site of the one which had stood for 84 years.
Why the past tense? See photo below.
WRIST BANDS—This will mark the second time in three years for graduation to be moved into the high school gym.
In 2016 the ceremony was moved indoors due to the weather.
Principal Tiffany Commerford said each graduating senior will be given 10 wrist bands to be distributed among family members and friends, guaranteeing them admission.
Commencement will feature speeches by valedictorian Hailey Wilson and salutatorian Trinady Joslin.
SPEAKER—This year’s commencement speaker is former National Football League Coach Daron K. Roberts.
Roberts preceded his NFL career by graduating from Harvard Law School in 2007.
He then went on to coach with the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns and, in the college ranks, with the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Roberts also holds an honors BA from The University of Texas and masters of public policy (MPP) degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School.
He is the founding director of the Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation (CSLI) at The University of Texas, creating it in 2014.
CSLI is the first university-based institute dedicated to developing leadership and character curricula for high school, collegiate and professional athletes.
In January, CSLI received the support of NBA all-star Kevin Durant.
Roberts launched a non-profit football camp, Fourth and One, in 2010.
Fourth and One has provided free SAT college entrance exam prep, life skills development and football training to over 500 at-risk youth in Michigan, Texas and Florida.
Roberts has been featured in ESPN The Magazine, Bloomberg Business Week and Sports Illustrated and is a contributor to forbes.com. His articles have appeared in the Dallas Morning News, Fortune, Houston Chronicle and Time.
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