From staff reports

Another school year is coming to a close, and students are getting ready to don caps and gowns.

Porters Chapel Academy will kick off the high school commencement season with a May 16 ceremony. Port Gibson’s Chamberlain Hunt Academy, St. Aloysius and the two public high schools will follow. Vicksburg Community School, a private institution, will round out the pack with a May 30 ceremony.

In the area’s higher education sector, Alcorn graduates will receive diplomas Saturday, and Hinds students will follow with May 15 and May 17 ceremonies. Mississippi State led the pack, with a ceremony this past Saturday.

Speakers this year range from doctors and state legislators to TV news personalities.

The schedule:

High schools

* Porters Chapel Academy — 3 p.m. May 16, City Auditorium; Robin Lumbley, Porters Chapel Academy graduate and veterinarian from Starkville, speaker.

* Chamberlain Hunt, Port Gibson — 10 a.m. May 22, front lawn; no speaker.

* St. Aloysius — 10 a.m. May 23, Vicksburg Convention Center; Bishop Joseph Latino, Diocese of Jackson, speaker.

* Vicksburg High — 7 p.m. May 28, City Park Stadium; speaker TBA.

* Warren Central — 7 p.m. May 29, WCHS stadium; speaker TBA.

* Vicksburg Community School — 2 p.m. May 30, Vicksburg Convention Center; Bruce Wimberly, pastor of Vineyard Church in Jackson, speaker.

Colleges and universities

Alcorn State

* 8:30 a.m. Saturday  — Jack Spinks Stadium in Lorman; Dr. Charlie Haywood Bridges, 1974 Alcorn graduate and Baton Rouge urologist, speaker.

Hinds Community College

May 15

* 8:30 a.m. — Nursing, allied health convocation; Hogg Auditorium in Raymond; Joe Pinion, CEO of Central Mississippi Medical Center, speaker.

* 11:30 a.m. — All graduates with last names A-L (Jackson-ATC, Nursing/Allied, Rankin, Raymond and Vicksburg campuses); Hogg Auditorium; Mark Keenum, former Mississippi State University’s president, speaker.

* 2:30 p.m. — All graduates with last names M-Z (Jackson-ATC, Nursing/Allied, Rankin, Raymond and Vicksburg campuses); Hogg Auditorium; Mark Keenum, former Mississippi State University’s president, speaker.

May 17

* 2 p.m. — Utica campus graduates; J.D. Boyd Gymnasium in Utica; Jackson Public School District Superintendent Lonnie J. Edwards Sr., speaker.

Jackson State

* 6 p.m. Friday — Graduate school; Lee E. Williams Athletics & Assembly Center, 1400 J.R. Lynch St., Jackson; Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree, speaker.

* 8 a.m. Saturday — Undergraduate school; Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, 2531 N. State St., Jackson; Randall Pinkston, CBS News correspondent, speaker.

University of Southern Mississippi

Friday

* 10 a.m.  — College of Business, College of Education and Psychology, College of Science and Technology, Honors College; Reed Green Coliseum, Hattiesburg; William R. Phalen, USM alumnus and CEO and chairman of Cities West Publishing Inc., speaker.

* 3 p.m. — College of Health, College of Arts and Letters, Honors College, University Libraries; Reed Green Coliseum; speaker, same as above.

Saturday

* 10 a.m. — Gulf Coast campus; Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi; Maj. Gen. Paul F. Capasso, former commander of the 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, speaker.

University of Mississippi

Friday

* 4 p.m. — Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College; Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, 100 University Ave.

* 7:30 p.m. — Doctoral hooding ceremony, Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

Saturday

* 9 a.m. — Convocation in The Grove; Bob Schieffer, CBS News correspondent, speaker.

* 11 a.m. — School of Law, The Grove; in case of rain, 1:30 p.m. at Gertrude C.  Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

* 11 a.m. — School of Engineering, The Lyceum Circle; in case of rain, Fulton Chapel.

* 11 a.m. — School of Education, The Grove; in case of rain, 2:30 p.m. at Indoor Practice Facility.

* 11 a.m. — School of Business Administration, Tad Smith Coliseum, 100 Coliseum Loop.

* 11 a.m. — School of Accountancy, Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

• 11 a.m. — School of Applied Sciences, Indoor Practice Facility.

* 11 a.m. — College of Liberal Arts, master’s degree ceremony; Nutt Auditorium.

* 11:30 a.m. — School of Pharmacy, Turner Center.

* 2 p.m. — College of Liberal Arts; Tad Smith Coliseum.

Mississippi Valley State University

* 8 a.m. Saturday — W.H. Harrison Gymnasium, Itta Bena; Rep. Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg, speaker.

Mississippi University for Women

Saturday

* 10 a.m.  — College of Arts and Sciences and College of Education and Human Sciences; Rent Auditorium; Mary Winfred Peavey, president of Peavey Electronics, speaker.

* 1:30 p.m.  — College of Business, College of Nursing, College of Culinary Arts and College of Speech Language and Pathology; Rent Auditorium; speaker, same.

Delta State

* 10 a.m. Saturday — Walter Sillers Coliseum, Cleveland; Aubrey Patterson, chairman and CEO of BancorpSouth Inc., speaker.