▶ GRADUATION

the end of Friday, Orleans Arena will have hosted 28 graduations in eight days. It averages four ceremonies a day: 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

To try to ensure a smooth experience for everyone, arena staff and district officials arrive as early as 7 a.m. to prepare for the first ceremony and work late into the night. And they always get a kick out of seeing the students.

“I always like to see the kids walk across the stage,” said Phylis Lackie, an usher who has worked graduation season since 2004, the first year the arena hosted ceremonies.

Years of practice

Berman, Lackie and almost a dozen other veteran ushers likely hear “Pomp and Circumstance” and the theme music from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” — which plays when graduates exit — in their sleep. They’ve learned a few things over the years.

First, the arena can only hold some of the smaller schools’ graduations. Anywhere between 500 and 550 students graduating is a good number. More than that, and they start to run out of seats for parents and family members. The configuration for graduation holds a total of 5,632 people. life lessons he rattled off.

“To win the race, first you must begin the race.”

“Do life. Don’t let life do you.” Before the presentation of diplomas, Jaime Ditto, the Silverado principal, had a reminder for audience members: Please be respectful and refrain from loud cheering or applause when your graduate’s name is called.

The message tends to fall on deaf ears, according to Berman, but names are read rapid-fire. At Silverado, 519 names were called in 33 minutes.

“It makes for a fast day, because it is fast,” said lead usher Marie Heckathorn, another graduation lifer at the arena. “We do it. We do it year after year, and it works.”