With less than four weeks until Morgan Hill Unified School
District seniors stroll across the stage to start a new post-high
school life, volunteers are working hard to pull together two
separate celebrations to keep graduates safe and sober on their
special day.
Morgan Hill – With less than four weeks until Morgan Hill Unified School District seniors stroll across the stage to start a new post-high school life, volunteers are working hard to pull together two separate celebrations to keep graduates safe and sober on their special day.
Sobrato High School will have its first-ever graduates with the Class of 2007. Parents of the soon-to-be Sobrato alumni have been working for two years to plan the school’s inaugural Grad Night celebration.
Cindy Peterson, one of a dedicated committee that is organizing the event, said the decision was made early in the process to have the event off site, even though the logistics might be challenging.
Sobrato’s Grad Night will be held at Boomers in Livermore. The facility offers laser tag, miniature golf, raceway go-carts, bumper boats and video games. Volunteers have planned a casino night and arranged for a music DJ and dancing, a hypnotist and a caricature artist. Of course, Peterson said, there will be plenty of food, including pizza, chocolate, munchies and lots of drinks.
Chartered buses to take the grads to Boomers will begin loading at 8:30pm, Peterson said, and the committee encourages groups who want to sit together to board the buses together. No one will be allowed to drive to Boomers or to leave early. Buses will bring the grads back to Morgan Hill the next morning, arriving at approximately 6am.
Tickets for Sobrato’s Grad Night are $130; to purchase tickets, make a donation or for more information, call 782-5109 or visit ww******************@***oo.com.
Peterson said though the committee has been fundraising for two years, donations are welcome. The committee offers help for those who qualify, and they haven’t raised as much as they initially planned.
Organizers of Live Oak High’s Grad Night are following a tradition that has been carried on for 21 years, transforming the school’s gym into a fantasy world for the event. As is traditional, graduates don’t know until the night of the celebration what the theme is, and past themes have included Arabian Nights and Pirates of the Caribbean.
The undertaking is massive, requiring huge amounts of supplies each year, and hundreds of hours of volunteer time. What this year’s group really needs is some volunteer time, according to co-coordinator Linda Lee Smith.
“As we head into the last weeks before graduation, we need to raise about $2,200 to reach our goal; but more importantly, we need to have many, many parents and community members come out to the garage to help us,” Smith said.
Anyone interested in helping out is invited to come to the Grad Night garage, near the football field, until May 31 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-9pm and Saturdays from 9am-noon. Beginning June 1, volunteers will be in the gym. On June 1, volunteers are needed starting at 3pm. From June 2-7, volunteers will be in the gym from 9am-8pm, some nights until midnight.
“Even if you only have an hour to spare, we can definitely use your help,” Smith said. “Junior parents, you’re next, so come by the garage and find out how it is done.”
Smith said any Grad Night volunteer alumni who have experience with laying the vinyl floor in the gym, “we would love your help as we’ve never done it.” Contact Linda and her committee by e-mailing her at
lo***********@*ol.com or
499-5064.
Something new for Grad Night and the graduation itself is pre-paid parking spaces. To avoid having to park at 4pm or walk a mile in high heels, purchase a spot in the pre-paid area which will be located by the football field entrance and the tennis courts. The spaces cost $20 each.
