Students Mark Milestone with Project Graduation

Published June 9, 2011

After months of planning on the part of parent volunteers and anticipation by the seniors in the Franklin High Class of 2011, the Project Graduation Cruise to the Future “docked” at FHS Sunday night, May 29.

At 10:30 p.m., the school doors opened to a full crowd of 379 new graduates anxious to celebrate their accomplishments. Inside, the teens discovered numerous activities such as the game tables, Boogie Heads, Minute To Win It, chess, Mario Cart, karaoke, shuffleboard, trivia, souvenir photos, balloon creations and more.

Between playing the games, every teen guest visited the Shipboard Shop to hand-select an item (average value of $50) to keep. The items included electronics, apparel, small appliances for dorm or apartment living, cash, and gift cards. Iced frapps and fruit smoothies staved off hunger until the buffet, sponsored by Whole Foods Market, opened at midnight.

At 3 a.m., the seniors moved to the FHS auditorium where a hypnotist provided an interactive show with the graduates. Following the show, the grads were treated to a light breakfast as the winners of the enter-to-win prizes were drawn. Prizes included laptops, dorm refrigerators, flat screen TV’s, iPad2's and more. The Grand Prize, a Honda “Ruckus” scooter along with $400 for expenses, was won by senior Connor Inman.

Patterned after a nationwide movement by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization, Project Graduation is an all-night, drug and alcohol-free celebration held each year for the FHS graduating class since 2004. Hosted by the school parent association and staffed by parent volunteers, the nature of this event reduces the occurrence of unsupervised parties across the community. Rather than allowing the new FHS grads to risk the dangers of the road on this statistically dangerous night for teen drivers, the parent association’s mission is to entice the graduating class to park their cars in favor of attending this one, safe celebration at the school.