VIDALIA — Get your cameras, tissues and dinner reservations ready, graduation season has arrived.

Even with the threat of the Mississippi River bearing down on the Miss-Lou, graduates in Concordia Parish will still be able to walk across the stage and toss their hats in the air as they move forward into the next phase of their life.

While graduations are scheduled, the river did cause one change in the planning.

Superintendent Loretta Blankenstein said Monterey High School’s graduation, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, was moved from the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center to the school’s gymnasium.

“They were going to try something different this year at the Riverfront, but due to the water, they had to move it back to the school,” she said. “Everything else will remain the same.”

The graduation season begins Thursday at Ferriday High School. The graduation ceremony will begin 7 p.m. on the football field.

Vidalia High School seniors will graduate Friday. The ceremony will be at 7:30 p.m. on the football field.

Due to their locations outside, Blankenstein said the graduations at Ferriday and Vidalia may be subject to change if the weather gets bad.

“If it rains, we have to go inside to the gym at each school,” she said.

Blankenstein said she hopes the weather stays clear, because each school’s gymnasium is only allowed to have a certain amount of people in it before it is declared a hazard.

“We are really hoping for good weather,” she said.

Blankenstein said she wishes the best for all the 2011 graduates.

“We certainly hope (the students) will take what they have learned at school and use it to better their future,” she said. “This is our wish for them and we hope they all have a great life after high school.”

Copiah-Lincoln Community College students will also be graduating this week. The graduation is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Natchez Convention Center.

Four more graduations are scheduled for next week in the Miss-Lou, with the first being for Central Louisiana Technical College Shelby Jackson Campus graduates at 6:30 p.m. May 17.

The graduation was scheduled to be at the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center, but due to the river levels has been moved to the community center on Louisiana 15.

Cathedral High School seniors will be graduating at 7 p.m. May 20 at St. Mary Basilica in Natchez.

Adams County Christian School seniors will graduate at 7:30 p.m. May 20 at First Baptist Church in Natchez.

Trinity Episcopal Day School seniors are scheduled to graduate at 2 p.m. May 22 at Trinity Church in Natchez.

The final graduation is set for Natchez High School seniors at 7:30 p.m. May 27 on the school’s football field.