EDITOR'S NOTE: In June 2004 I began a new venture as managing editor of both Northfield News and Faribault Daily News. This column originally appeared in the Northfield News on April 27, 2007.
The march toward the high school spring rites of passage will continue unabated now through early June. We witnessed the glamorous spectacle of prom last week, and our seniors got to experience one last time of dressing up to the nines and taking their date to a high school dance. Those in sports will soon be into spring playoffs, and those in the performing and other arts either are or soon will be showing off their work in concerts and shows for their last time. Final tests will be rushed through, last-minute homework turned in and then, bang, graduation will be upon all of us. Whew, time to take a breath. ... Better ... That's why I'm going to ask a favor of all of you parents who have a senior graduating from high school from one of the area schools: Randolph High School, Northfield High School, the Area Learning Center and ARTech. Each year the News produces a very popular special section that includes the photos of all of the area's graduates, next to their classmates. It's a keepsake that most parents want to have, and most students will later be happy their parents kept. But, considering there are more than 300 students who appear in the special section, it is a challenging project to pull off each year. And so, I ask each of you parents to get your students' graduation information returned to us as soon as possible. For the students graduating from Northfield High, a form asking for several pieces of information was mailed today, and should be arriving in your mail very soon. For the students at ARTech, the ALC and Randolph, those sheets were given to your students at school. If you haven't yet seen them, please ask your student to bring one home so it can be promptly filled out. As for photos, if your student supplied one to the Northfield High School yearbook, then we will have a photo of them. However, if your graduate is from another school, or didn't supply one to the NHS yearbook, then please include a photo with the information form you submit about your graduate. The deadline for these sheets to be back to the Northfield News office is May 16. If your information arrives after that day, you risk it not getting in at all. You can either mail the sheet and/or photo back to the address that is on the form, or you can drop the information off at the News office in downtown Northfield. Either way, just get it in as soon as possible, please. The News is proud to produce this popular product and give the parents of local seniors a precious keepsake. But we do count on a lot of cooperation to make it come together, so thank you ahead of time to the parents who make this special section possible. Graduation is a milestone each year here at the News office as well. With each grad tab we put together, it's another set of Northfield High School students we took photos of and wrote stories about, who are growing up and moving on. Just as you parents are, we are excited about their futures, but sad to see students we care about graduate. To the parents we say: Thank you in advance for helping us to make the special grad tab possible each year. With all of the details you need to worry about prior to graduation, you all still remember to help us out too, and it's appreciated. To the students: Good luck in all of your future endeavors. We've been glad to share in your high school exploits and will miss your unique talents, but we can't wait to see what kinds of stories we'll be writing about you as you grow into adulthood. To everyone: Look for the News' annual graduation tab on May 30. - Devlyn Brooks is the managing editor of the Northfield News. He can be reached at dbrooks@northfieldnews.com.
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