An idea that has taken decades to gain momentum in the United States seems to be passing its tipping point in Pima County.
Project Graduation — called "Grad Night" in some places — is an all-night, substance-free themed party planned and carried out by parents, business people and residents to keep high school seniors safe on graduation night.
Graduating seniors are invited to spend their graduation night at their own school, where months of planning create a celebration that teens will remember, keeping them off the road and away from alcohol.
The tradition began in 1980 in South Paris, Maine, after alcohol-related crashes claimed the lives of 18 people in two graduation seasons.
Since that time, the tradition has gradually spread from Maine out West. Sahuarita High School picked up on it in the early 1990s, and Catalina Foothills High School began doing it as soon as it had graduating seniors.
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Enter Ironwood Ridge High School mom Mary Snider, who with her family moved to Oro Valley in 1999, when her son — now a high school senior — was in sixth grade.
He grew up watching her organize similar events for his older brother and his peers in Santa Rosa, Calif., where the family lived before moving here.
When Snider discovered there was no similar program in her new community, she went to work, and by 2004 the two Oro Valley high schools — Ironwood Ridge and Canyon del Oro — had Project Graduation parties, just in time for the first graduating class at Ironwood Ridge.
This year, with help from those schools at the north end of the school district, Amphitheater High School is launching a party for the first time, as is Vail School District's Cienega High School to the southeast.
Getting started
Nearly every parent of a local high school graduate who has participated in Project Graduation can thank Catalina Foothills High School for getting the trend started 10 years ago.
Taking a concept that had been used for some time in the East and Midwest as well as California, a group of parents in 1993 approached the Catalina Foothills Unified School District governing board to see if it would be interested in supporting a program that would create a safe postgraduation celebration.
The Family Faculty Organization spent the next three years formulating a plan, and in 1996 the high school hosted its first Grad Night for about 60 students.
About 75 percent of the school's grads participated in the early years, but now the all-night party in and around the school's gymnasium annually draws more than 90 percent of eligible seniors.
"It's become not only a safe place for kids to go and celebrate . . . but, beyond that, it's become a tradition," Foothills Principal Wagner Van Vlack said.
Grad Night chairwoman Robyn Schwager, who has been involved since the summer of 1999 when the oldest of her three daughters was about to enter Foothills, said she is anticipating around 410 grads to come from the football field to the gym on May 25.
Schwager said the key to making Grad Night so successful at Foothills was the ability to sell the occasion to both the parents and the kids. For the parents' sake, giving them peace of mind about where their children would be on what is traditionally a wild night of celebrating made it an easy sell.
For the kids, though, Schwager said she and her fellow committee members have had to make sure to fill the night — and the gym — with plenty of activities.
"You can't just have a DJ up on stage spinning (songs) and hope to have them stay until 5 a.m.," Schwager said. "We have all sorts of interactive projects."
Though specific details about Grad Night activities are top-secret — this year's theme is "Atlantis Rising" — Schwager said such Foothills standards as an outdoor carnival, an indoor casino, video games, a coffee cart, a chocolate fountain and both a catered dinner and breakfast will be included.
Schwager said about 350 adults will help make Grad Night run smoothly. Dozens of volunteers have been spending recent weekends preparing for the evening.
"Their efforts have been herculean," Van Vlack said of the volunteers.
With Foothills's Grad Night having become the blueprint for a successful celebration, other high schools have employed the school's help in starting their own. Foothills helped launch Project Graduation parties at Ironwood Ridge and Canyon del Oro in 2004, aided Amphitheater and Cienega this year and next year hopes to get Flowing Wells' night up and running.
"We would love to help any school have a Grad Night," Schwager said.
Idea spreads
As luck would have it, the Amphitheater Class of 2006 voted just before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans to have a Mardi Gras theme at its inaugural Project Graduation.
Not that it has dampened community enthusiasm for the event, said Cheryl Corsi, who has been handling the marketing end of things for Amphi's party.
"It was time (to host a graduation party), and people got together and said, 'We don't have it. We think we can make it work,' " Corsi said.
It's been a bit of an uphill battle, but the school is starting to see everything come together, said Julie Cota, Project Graduation chairwoman for Amphi High School.
"They had prom, and they had all these things, and for our kids I think it's huge to have all these big expensive things at one time," Cota said.
She was relieved to see an increase in ticket sales last week. This year tickets are going for $75 each — financial aid is available — with plans to drop the price to $50 next year, once the tradition begins to take root.
Corsi said of the three high schools in the district, Amphi probably has the hardest time establishing a new tradition because it is the oldest high school, but people have been mostly positive when she has approached them for support.
Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup sent the organizers a letter of endorsement for them to use in soliciting donations. Ward Three Councilwoman Karin Uhlich's office pledged monetary support early on. And the Tucson Police Department donated $3,000.
Cota said she is thankful for the help Amphi has received from Ironwood Ridge and CDO, whose chairwomen came to Amphi earlier in the school year and gave a presentation about Project Graduation.
CDO, whose theme last year was "Mardi Gras Magic," also donated props and decorations.
Like the CDO event, the Amphi party will begin with a formal senior dinner, Cota said.
And like the sister schools, a centerpiece of the evening will be the casino area. But entertainment will also include a movie area, outside carnival events with inflatables and carnival games, a hypnotist and hot tubs donated by Baja Spas for use just that night.
All three schools will offer raffle prizes throughout the night as further incentive to keep the kids there, and all three will top off the event by giving away a used car.
Jim Click dealerships donated a 2000 Geo Tracker to CDO and a 1999 Ford Escort to Amphi, while Ironwood Ridge will raffle a 1998 Nissan Altima from Precision Toyota.
Though used, the cars have been stylishly made over by 911 Collision Centers, The Specialists and Big O Tires.
A new party
Cienega High School is celebrating its first "Grad Nite" Wednesday. The theme: "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" from a Dr. Seuss book of the same title.
Mary Murray, the school's career center coordinator, and Maureen Mayer, president of CAT Frat — Community Achievement Through Teens — a parent group, are organizing the party.
"It's a celebration of their high school career," said Mayer. "We want it to be fun for them as well as safe for them."
The CAT Frat along with a student committee will transform the campus into a trip around the world.
In the tropical room, students can soak in hot tubs. The gym will be divided into three regions: Europe, which will feature a 28-foot-tall Eiffel Tower; the Southwest, where students can ride a mechanical bull; and a New York and Los Angeles game room with pool tables, air hockey and pinball.
A second gym will be divided between a Las Vegas-style casino and a Rio de Janeiro dance club. Behind the gym, students can roast hot dogs and marshmallows in the Australian Outback before they tackle the bungee trampoline, the rock wall and the obstacle course.
Carnival games will be in the hallway. Arcade games will be in the Retro room.
The wrestling room will become an Asian-themed spa for manicures, pedicures and massages. And tired students can nap in the Crash Pad.
"Every single room you visit is a different place so you get the feeling you're somewhere else," said senior Eric Valdiviezo, 18, a member of the student committee.
"You get to enjoy having fun visiting different cultures.""Grad Nite" admission is $75.
Overall, Murray estimates, the evening will cost $35,000, require the assistance of 200 volunteers and attract at least 250 of the 300 seniors.
"We have a bunch of kids who have signed up already to go," said senior Anthonette Goddard, 18, a member of the grad night student committee.
"All of my friends are talking about it and can't wait to go. It's a huge party all night long — minus the alcohol."
Open invitation
The STOP committee — Sahuarita Team Offers Prevention — has been organizing postgraduation parties for Sahuarita High School students since 1991, but it's not just seniors who benefit. Underclassmen are invited, too.
This year the STOP committee and student organizers decided on a luau theme.
The event will feature all the typical party foods: burgers, hot dogs, pizza, sodas, ice cream, nachos, vegetable and fruit trays and other snacks.
Students can dance to music provided by a DJ, sing karaoke, swim in the school's pool, test their skills on an inflatable obstacle course, climb a rock wall, don fat suits and sumo wrestle, joust, box with inflatable gloves, and get yanked around by the bungee run.
Sophomore Diane Gonzalez, 16, is on the planning committee and will be attending the Grad Night party. While seniors get in free and are allowed to bring a guest, underclassmen must pay $10 to attend.
"I went last year and it was fun," she said. "This year it should be 10 times better. We really put a lot of time and consideration into everything. The process has been long, but it has been worth it. It's the last thing we can offer the seniors to say goodbye."
GRAD NIGHT PARTIES AT A GLANCE
Sahuarita Unified School District
Sahuarita High School
Theme: "Luau"
Date: May 25
Year began: 1991
Catalina Foothills Unified School District
Catalina Foothills High School
Theme: "Atlantis Rising"
Date: May 25
Year began: 1996
Vail School District
Cienega High School
Theme: "Oh, The Places You'll Go"
Date: May 24
Year began: 2006
Marana Unified School District
Mountain View High School
Projected year to begin: 2007
Amphitheater Public Schools
Canyon del Oro High School
Theme: "Pirates of the Caribbean"
Date: May 23
Year began: 2004
Ironwood Ridge High School
Theme: "Reel Hollywood"
Date: May 24
Year began: 2004
Amphitheater High School
Theme: "Mardi Gras"
Date: May 25
Year began: 2006
