GRADUATIONS: HIGH SCHOOLS PREPARE FOR `POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE'

More than 1,400 seniors will graduate in the upcoming weeks from Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois high schools.

Advance schools will lead off area graduations Tuesday. Cape Central will graduate its seniors on June 7.

Following is a list of times and dates for the graduation ceremonies:

Advance Advance seniors will be the first in the area to receive their diplomas. Twenty-seven seniors will graduate from Advance High School on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the school's auditorium. In addition, a baccalaureate service will be held Sunday at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

KFVS-TV anchor Mary-Ann Maloney will be the featured speaker at the graduation ceremonies.

Mounds, Ill. Seventy-one seniors will graduate from Meridian High School in Mounds during the May 18 commencement ceremony. Graduation begins at 10 a.m. There will be no featured speaker.

Oran Graduation ceremonies will be held May 19 at 2 p.m. for 27 Oran High School seniors. The ceremony will be held in the gymnasium. The Rev. Normand Varone, pastor of the Guardian Angel Catholic Church, will address the group.

Delta Thirty-five seniors will graduate from Delta High School on May 23. Ceremonies will be held in the gymnasium beginning at 7 p.m. The Rev. Kenny Martin will be the featured speaker.

Meadow Heights Graduation ceremonies at Meadow Heights High School at Patton will be held May 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the school's gymnasium. Thirty-three seniors will receive their degrees, and the district's superintendent, Tom Waller, will deliver the keynote address.

A baccalaureate service is scheduled for May 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the gym.

Tamms, Ill. Egyptian High School in Tamms will graduate 58 seniors at their May 23 commencement ceremony. The combination graduation-baccalaureate service will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the school gymnasium.

The keynote address will be given by the Rev. Charles Horton, pastor of the Alexander Free Will Baptist Church in Olive Branch.

Oak Ridge Southeast Missouri State University President Kala Stroup will give the keynote address at the May 24 graduation ceremony at Oak Ridge High School.

Twenty seniors will receive their diplomas at the 8 p.m. ceremony, to be held in the school's gymnasium.

Scott City Sixty-six seniors will graduate from Scott City High School on May 24. The class valedictorian and salutatorian will address the group.

The ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. on the football field.

Chaffee May 24 is also the day 46 seniors will graduate from Chaffee High School. The ceremony will begin at 8 p.m. in the gymnasium. A baccalaureate service will be held May 19 at 8 p.m. in the gym.

Kelly Kelly High School near Benton will graduate 77 seniors on May 24. The class valedictorian will address the group. The ceremony begins at 8 p.m. in the school's gymnasium.

Perryville High School About 175 seniors will receive their diplomas during commencement ceremonies at Perryville High School on May 24. The ceremony begins at 8 p.m. on the football field.

St. Vincent High School Commencement activities at St. Vincent High School in Perryville will be held at St. Vincent's Church beginning at 7:30 p.m. on May 24. Thirty-two seniors will graduate.

In addition, a 10 a.m. mass will be held at the church the same day for the entire student body.

Notre Dame High School Thirty-nine seniors will graduate from Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau on May 31 at 7:30 p.m. The ceremony will be held in the gym and the featured speaker will be Jerry Grim, an art teacher at the school.

A graduation mass will be held that same day at 11 a.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Church. On May 19 at 6 p.m., a senior banquet will be held for seniors and their parents. College prep certificates and academic letters will be awarded.

Jackson Jackson High School graduation is set for May 31 at 7:30 p.m. Mark Goodwin, science teacher, and Janet Ludwig, business teacher, will address the 262 seniors receiving their degrees.

The ceremony will be held at the football stadium. In case of rain, it will be held in the gym. A baccalaureate service will be held May 19 at the school at 8 p.m. The Rev. Dell J. Crockett, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, and the Rev. Lawrence Eatherton, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, will conduct the service.

Anna-Jonesboro, Ill. Graduation ceremonies will be held May 31 at 8 p.m. at Anna-Jonesboro High School. About 100 seniors will receive their degrees during ceremonies to be held at the football field.

Cairo, Ill. Cairo High School will hold commencement activities June 1 at 10 a.m. in the school's gym. Fifty-three seniors will graduate.

Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris will be the keynote speaker.

Wolf Lake, Ill. Shawnee High School will hold graduation ceremonies at 3 p.m. on June 2 in the school's auditorium. A baccalaureate service will be held May 23 at 8 p.m.

Cape Girardeau Central High School The Show Me Center will be the setting for the graduation ceremony of 270 Central High seniors on June 7. Charlie Spoonhour, head basketball coach at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, will be the keynote speaker. The ceremony begins at 8 p.m.