Off-campus grad night — wherever it is — promises to be memorable

As Grad Night approaches, curiosity about its location is rising. One thing is certain: For the first time ever, the event will take place off-campus. What is less clear is where it will occur, though many seniors think it will be at Great America.

Assistant principal Kerry Mohnike, who attended a Grad Night meeting in the fall, believes these rumors started because other schools have had their graduation celebrations at Great America in the past.

“The knowledge that it wasn’t going to be here started people speculating,” Mohnike said. “People started making guesses of, ‘Where is it? Well, some high schools have it at Great America, so maybe that’s where we’re going. Oh, that’s where we’re going! Oh, guess what? We’re going!’”

Parent Elaine McGinnis, co-chair of this year’s Grad Night committee, would not confirm whether the event would be at Great America in order to maintain the element of surprise. She did say, however, that Grad Night will take place off-campus this year.

McGinnis said that in a meeting last spring, the committee decided to have Grad Night at an offsite location when former assistant principal Karen Hyde mentioned some issues the committee was facing. 

“Over the years, we have had less and less parent volunteer support for this event,” McGinnis said. “This trend, coupled with increased costs, factored into our decision to move Grad Night off-campus.”

McGinnis said there is no significant difference in the price of bids for an on-campus Grad Night versus an off-campus one, and the current price is $225 per bid. The cost for planning the event, however, has risen.

“Costs have increased significantly to bring the entertainment and infrastructure on-site,” McGinnis said. “After much discussion and analysis, it was determined we could provide the seniors with far more entertainment off-site.”

McGinnis said this year, students can look forward to a casino, a hypnotist, airbrush tattoos, arcade games, bingo, dance heads, DJ-dancing, henna, photo booths and much more. In addition, the committee has created a prize booth for the event, which it hopes will interest all students.

“Our goal is to find a variety of prizes to appeal to the hipster/vintage Falcon, the glitzy Falcon, the sporty Falcon and the college-bound Falcon,” McGinnis said.

McGinnis said that although this year’s Grad Night will be very different than ones in the past, the experience that seniors have will still be one to remember. In addition, one of the main purposes of the event is to provide a safe venue where graduates can celebrate without drinking alcohol.

“The intent of Grad Night is to provide a fun, safe and sober environment for our seniors, [regardless of] its location,” McGinnis said. “This is the last time all the seniors will be together before they take flight to pursue their individual endeavors.”

Mohnike also said she sees Grad Night as a last chance for seniors to connect with each other, since the next time they will see each other will be at a class reunion.

“I hope it’s just a joyful celebration of graduating,” Mohnike said. “This is supposed to be their night, where they get one last time to hang out together as a class. It’s an opportunity to hang with your friends before everyone starts separating off into their grown-up lives.”

McGinnis said students must buy tickets before May 31 because of venue and transportation contracts. 

According to Mohnike, the event promises to be filled with action and excitement.

“This is the first time [Grad Night is] off-campus, so I’m both curious and excited for the kids,” Mohnike said. “I’m sure it’s going to be fabulous.”