On Tuesday, June 19, around 300 of Moorestown High School’s graduating seniors will participate in Project Graduation.
On Tuesday, June 19, around 300 of Moorestown High School’s graduating seniors will board school buses and be whisked away to three undisclosed locations for a drug- and alcohol-free night of fun. This year’s celebration holds a place of particular importance as Moorestown’s Project Graduation marks its 30th year.
“One night can have an impact on somebody’s life well beyond what it looks like on the surface,” said Project Graduation volunteer Trevor Durham.
Project Graduation is a nationwide initiative providing students with a safe, substance-free, all-night-long graduation celebration. It began in Oxford Hills, Maine, in 1980 following seven drug- and alcohol-related deaths that occured during graduation celebrations. Thirty years ago, Project Graduation came to Moorestown.
Durham, who has volunteered with Moorestown’s project graduation for around 10 years, said he’s taken a look at Project Graduation celebrations in the surrounding communities and across the nation, and Moorestown’s night is truly something special.
At this point, around 99 percent of the senior class participates in Project Graduation. Immediately following graduation, students board buses at MHS and travel down Main Street for what has come to be known as a “clap out.” Members of the Moorestown community and passersby along Main clap as the procession of buses makes its way down the town’s main thoroughfare.
The night’s itinerary is kept secret from the students. Past nights have included trips to aquariums, bowling alleys and arcades.
“The night ends up being a fun mystery, and everyone’s in it together,” Durham said.
Throughout the course of the evening, students have opportunities to win prizes. Durham said many of this year’s prizes are more “experiential” offering students “unique opportunities.”
The day after Project Graduation ends, the committee gets to work planning for the next year, Durham said. The night is funded through donations from a number of local organizations, including the Moorestown Home and School Association, the Moorestown Education Foundation and other community partners.
This year’s Project Graduation chairs included Maureen Bretschneider, Alex Chrostowski, Michele DiMarino, Sally Finley, Nancy Garrison, Lynn Rohrbach and Durham. The team fundraises up until the night of graduation with some parents even handing them checks at the ceremony itself.
Rohrbach said Project Graduation is the last time the students are together as collective group.
“It’s genuine fun,” Rohrbach said. “Thirty years of success comes from an entire community coming around our graduates year after year to celebrate their accomplishments while leaving them with a special memory to hold with them.”
Students who have participated in the past are often eager to come back and volunteer or provide support in some way, Durham said.
“This one night sticks with our graduates for the rest of their lives, and I see that time and time again,” Durham said. “We hear that in stories from our graduates.”
For more information or to donate to project graduation, visit www.mhsprojectgraduation.com.
