With song, dance, speeches and recognitions, students from around the Petal School District put on their “Greatest Show” Wednesday during the school district’s first student-led convocation.
The convocation, which was held at the Petal Performing Arts Center, carried the theme of the 2017 film “The Greatest Showman,” and featured students in costumes inspired by the movie.
“Everything we do in this district, we want to put students first,” district superintendent Matt Dillon said. “I couldn’t think of a better way to come up with a better feel to our opening convocation than to have our students lead it from start to finish.
“What we’re trying to do today is set the stage as we go into the 2018-2019 school year and put students at the forefront of all our decision making. We feel like the greatest show around is the Petal School District.”
The convocation began with show choir members from Petal Upper Elementary, Petal Middle and Petal High schools performing the song “The Greatest Show.” Logan Barrett, a junior at Petal High School, served as the event’s ringmaster.
Petal Primary School students Dillon Harvey, Audriana Cage and Isabella Moffett, along with Petal Elementary students Addison Morgan, Anthony Sheridan and Tripp Lee, led the Pledge of Allegiance. Petal High student Christian Sandoval sang the national anthem, followed by Petal High junior Molly Farris leading the prayer.
Video was shown of students Danny Li and John Paul Wallace, who explained their interpretations of the school district’s “Hometown Values, Global Visions” motto. Li was the valedictorian of the 2018 graduating class, while Wallace is a student at the high school.
Petal Upper Elementary student Nate Dillon, who is the son of Matt Dillon, then took the stage to sing “A Million Dreams.”
Rising senior Quay Robinson served as the event’s keynote speaker.
“To me, this really represents the Petal School District’s need for student involvement,” she said. “They encourage student involvement in everything – academics and in the community – and I think it’s really big that they’re letting a student lead the convocation and speak at it.”
After the keynote speech, Petal High junior Hannah Hand introduced the Petal Education Foundation Mini-Grant Winners before eighth-grader Meredith Poole presented the newest PERKS partners, along with a few door prizes.
The convocation was closed out by the show choir, who performed “From Now On” for their last act of the day.
“Beyond the fun and the singing and watching our talented students perform, we’re also embodying “Hometown Values, Global Vision” … and what it means to students that have gone through our district and are now doing things across the nation,” Matt Dillon said.
