CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Solomon Coles High School graduates now have an even bigger reason to celebrate with their families, friends and loved ones. The graduation, initially set to be held at Veterans Memorial High School, will now be held at the much bigger venue: Selena Auditorium.
Parents and staff are praising the decision, since limited space at Vets Memorial meant graduates could only invite five people.
With a seating capacity of more than 2,500, moving the graduation to Selena Auditorium means students can look forward to seeing everyone who helped them get there.
"To be able to have those important people there to see them and everything that they've gone through, and how they didn't let that keep them from earning that high school diploma," Coles High School school counselor Maricela Garza Ortiz said.
A Facebook post broke the news on Wednesday that the Coles High School graduation would now be at Selena Auditorium.
Garza Ortiz said about 141 kids will walk the stage in June — one of the school's largest graduating classes. She said it is important for graduates to have people there that were a part of their journey.
"You've got to show up," Garza Ortiz said. "When the student walks the stage and they see you, they're looking for you. I can't express how beautiful it is to see the smiles of the parents and the families and the students."
Laura Villagomez's daughter is one of this year's Coles High School graduates. She said her daughter was two years behind in school at one point, but worked hard so she could graduate on time.
While it was stressful when there were initial capacity concerns, the mother said she is happy with the decision to move the ceremony to the Selena Auditorium.
"I don't think that anybody should be going through all that stress," Villagomez said. "It's already stressful to be going to school, and then having to stress about the venue, who are you going to be able to invite."
Instead of being limited to only five invites, the venue change means Villagomez plans to invite about 10-15 people to her daughter's graduation.
"It takes a whole village to raise a child, and I'm sure that the village wants to come and see her excel, close that chapter and move onto the next chapter," she said.
Garza Ortiz said Selena Auditorium can comfortably fit all graduates, teachers, staff, friends and family, and is happy it worked out this way.
Graduation will be held there on June 6.