Springtime ushers in the new. In sync with the season, Park University will introduce a fresh group of proud college graduates next month.

The May graduation ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 9, at the Community of Christ Auditorium in Independence, Mo.

Students who will graduate have certain requirements that must be met before walking. Ray Kincaid, a senior that plans to graduate in May, is majoring in elementary education, and had to have 90 semester hours and a cumulative 2.75 GPA. It is also the responsibility of this major to have no grade below a “C” in education core.

“For me to graduate, I had to complete all my classes that Park requires and all of my major specific classes,” Kincaid said. “I also had to complete a portfolio. In the portfolio, I had to justify how I have met 16 quality indicators for educators.”

These indicators must meet at least one of the Missouri Standards for the Preparation of Educators and must go with an assignment completed in a previous class as well as display knowledge of how the standards align.

Examples of Missouri Standards are academics; design and assessment; and field and clinical experience.

“I filled out my application for graduation in August,” Kincaid said. “I’m excited to graduate. I am nervous for the future and what I will do next. I will miss all of my friends.”

After filling out the application for graduation, which is simply students and advisors insuring that all bases are covered in time for graduation, Kincaid and other soon to be graduates are preparing for yet another large life change.

“I have loved my time at Park,” Kincaid said. “I have been so blessed to be here; receive the education I have; and meet amazing people.”

Kincaid said he is looking forward to the future.

“I hope to be teaching elementary students this next year,” he said.

The day before graduation, Friday, May 8, from 10:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., the students and their families can visit the Parkville campus as well as have a luncheon in the Park Distance Learning Conference Center Friday, May 8. Students in attendance can take campus tours to meet faculty and staff.