It’s the biggest night of their lives so far, but members of Muskogee High School’s class of 2008 won’t be able to share it with friends from Fort Gibson and Hilldale High Schools.

The three schools are having commencement on the same night — May 23 — as are Tahlequah, Okay, Porter, Vian and Westville Schools.

For at least the past seven years, Muskogee’s commencement was a week after Hilldale’s and Fort Gibson’s. In 2004 and 2005, it was held on Saturday, while the other two schools had ceremonies on Friday.

“It just worked out to where we had it on the same night as the others,” said Glenn Gardner, assistant principal at Muskogee High School. “In the past, we had graduation at 2 p.m., but this year we had a flood day we had to make up.”

Hilldale High School senior Ashley Swaidner said she’s disappointed that she cannot watch her Muskogee friends graduate.

“I did want to go,” she said. “We’re just going to hang out with each other after the ceremony. I go to church with a lot of them (at MHS).”

Muskogee senior Mike Mocha said he has a couple of friends at Hilldale, but he said he plans to hang out with his family after his graduation.

Hilldale and Fort Gibson have had commencement on the same night since 2004. Still, that doesn’t keep Hilldale English teacher Kirsten Harrison from feeling some disappointment this year.

“I have friends at Fort Gibson who are in our church group,” she said. “Since I am on the faculty here, I’m going to ours. I’m sending my husband to the graduation at Fort Gibson.”

Muskogee, Hilldale and Fort Gibson aren’t the only Oklahoma schools graduating on the same day.

Tulsa’s nine regular high schools will have commencement ceremonies in 90-minute intervals on May 24 in two locations, the Oral Roberts University Mabee Center and the Tulsa University Reynolds Center.

Jones said this is the first year Tulsa high schools have coordinated to have commencements on the same day and same places. In the past, it was left for the schools themselves to “jimmy for locations and times,” she said.

Reach Cathy Spaulding at 684-2928 or cspaulding @muskogeephoenix.com