Name:   MartiniMan - Subject:   On a positive note... Date:   1/31/2014 9:01:36 AM

Its a religious ceremony held before graduation for the faculty, students and parents.  For our Catholic school they have a very nice tradition where students entering high school attend a Matriculation Mass where they officially enter the Upper School, enter their names into the Matriculation book and are given a candle to symbolize the light they will receive over the next four years.  The school labels the candle and stores it for them while they are in high school.  Then right before graduation they attend a Baccalaureate Mass where they receive the candle that they held in 9th grade. Then during graduation they enter the Church with the candle lighted representing the knowledge they gained through high school and after they receive their diploma they go and sign out in the Matriculation book.  Its really a beautiful set of ceremonies.   So for Catholics it is a Mass and for other denominations it is some sort of religious ceremony.  Not sure if they do it in govt schools but of they do I suspect in most places it would not be a religious ceremony.