Joplin HS Seniors Welcome Obama At Graduation Ceremony

President Obama will deliver the graduation speech to this year's seniors at Joplin High School.

Students who survived last May's deadly tornado will surely remember his words the rest of their lives. But some adults in the town worry election-year politics will overshadow the special day.

With their old high school turned to rubble, students now learn in makeshift classrooms at the local mall.

News On 6 asked a roundtable of seniors to speak candidly about President Obama's decision to deliver their commencement speech.

"It's the President of the United States. It doesn't matter who it is or why he's coming," said Joplin senior Derek Carter.

"I do believe a big part of it is for political reasons but I'm not saying it's his whole reasoning behind it. I think a big part of it is. But it's not because he's a Democrat. I think any President would do that," said senior Zack Wages.

These students know it's a politically-charged election year, but don't agree with concerns the President will turn graduation into a campaign stop.

"They're not the ones graduating high school. They're not the ones getting to tell people for the rest of their lives, 'Yeah, the President spoke at my graduation,'" said Joplin senior Siri Ancha.

"Living in the part of the country that we do, it's not really pro-Obama. So there's not really anything to be gained from coming to speak here," said senior Jerad Fisher.

President Obama was elected on the promise of hope. The students say -- if he wants to see hope in person, their old campus is a good place to start.

"Hope just kind of symbolizes that will to go on. And it's not always going to be this bad. You can pull through," Fisher said.

The sign at Joplin High School is now an icon. It shows the hope this town has for the future. When the tornado struck last year, many families were leaving high school graduation. That's why this year's ceremony is such a milestone.

"Last graduation was kind of infamous. And this is kind of famous. It's going to be kind of a showcase to the world. Here we are. Here's what we did. Here's what we accomplished," said senior Taylor Haddad.

Senior year didn't begin how they imagined, and it certainly won't end that way. But these students say they're proud the President will see how far they've come together.

Graduation day is May 21st. That's the eve of the one-year anniversary of the EF-5 tornado that devastated the town.

03/05/2012 Related Story: Obama To Deliver Commencement Address At Joplin High School In May