A worthwhile Project

After a day of concerns about the weather and the effect it might have on the graduation ceremony, all worries were washed away Friday night as Warren County High School graduates let loose and partied together at Project Graduation held at the high school. Scheduled to last from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., the event provided a safe atmosphere for the class of 2025 to share one more night of controlled chaos together.

Project Graduation has its roots in Maine in 1980 as an event designed to give high school graduates a drug- and alcohol-free place to safely celebrate together, keeping teenagers off the road on a historically dangerous night. The idea caught on across America and was embraced in Warren County approximately 40 years ago. 

The all-night lock-in offered corn hole, basketball, inflatable slides and obstacle courses, a Money Chamber, free food and drinks, Bingo, axe throwing, mechanical bull riding and many other activities which were set up in Charlie Dalton Gym and the indoor practice facility to help the senior class celebrate.

The night of fun requires months of work as fundraisers were held throughout the year to make the event possible.

‘We raised around $65,000 this year,” Project Graduation Treasurer and senior parent volunteer Kelly Key said. “We sold Dr Pepper and flowers. Our big fundraiser was a nursery sale. That raised over $11,000. We do a car show, a yard sale, we sold Bundt cakes, we did a lot of things.”

The evening is both exhausting and rewarding for parents and school employees who help make Project Graduation a success.

“I’ve been here 21 years and have seen a lot of classes come through,” WCHS Custodian Connie Terry said. ‘This has been a really good class. I really love most of them. I think Project Graduation is a good thing and gives an alternative to other things they could be doing. I mostly know the students who are in sports or band, but this is great seeing them all here together. They’re mingling pretty good in here tonight. I like watching them have a good time.”