On the night of graduation, May 17, seniors will be given the chance to get together one last time as a class and have a chance to win prizes to help them on with their lives.

“Statistics say that prom and graduation are the two most dangerous nights of a high school student’s life, and our school chooses to have Project Graduation instead of a Project Prom,” Project Graduation sponsor Jarrett Pfannenstiel said.

Project Graduation was made to help protect seniors from drugs, and drinking on graduation night and help keep them safe from any other unforeseen disasters that could happen that night.

“There is a $30 fee, $15 of which is given directly back to the student in the form of a Walmart gift card,” Pfannenstiel said. “The remaining money is used to help pay for food, drink, and prizes.”

Some of the prizes given away that night include camping gear, scholarships, vacuum cleaners, microwaves,and laptops. All of these prizes are given in hopes to help the graduating class further down the road of their lives.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it, it’s the last gathering I’ll have with my friends, also the prizes I’ll get will help me later on in life,” senior Nik Wolfe said.

Most seniors are just going for a good time and for a chance to win the prizes, others are going so they can be with the majority of the class one last time.

“I’m just ready to graduate, I don’t want to go,” senior Xavier James said.

Other seniors are ready to be done with school and want to get out of there as soon as possible, so they won’t be attending.

“I’m not excited about staying up till two, I usually sleep at ten,” senior Kristina Herl said.

While some seniors don’t like staying up so late, most seniors still feel like project graduation is a good idea and they feel excited to see what prizes they might win.

“It’s definitely an important activity,” Pfannenstiel said. “It keeps students sober and safe on a dangerous night and it allows for that final moment with your classmates before they all part ways.”

What others are saying:

What do you hope some of the prizes for project graduation will be?
“A TV, food gift cards or a mini-fridge.”
– senior Matti Schlaefli
“Fuzzy socks and shirts.”
– senior Kirsten Ellard
“A TV or concert tickets.”
– senior Trenton Henningsen
“Money or a laptop.”
– senior Mariah Haley
“A taco maker.”
– senior Adam Klaus
“A fruit dehydrator.”
– senior Casey Dinkel
“A laptop or Ipad.”
– senior Abby Shubert

16jschaffer@usd489.com