Make Graduation Day a Special Day Across the Grades
Whether you call it Graduation Day, Move-Up or Step-Up Day,
or Recognition or Promotion Day, the day you set aside to honor
your school's "senior" class can be a special one with
these ideas from Education World's "Principal Files" team.
No matter what grade levels are taught in your school, the end of
the school year offers a special opportunity to recognize those
students who make up the school's "senior" class. Many school districts
reserve the title "Graduation Day" for grade 12 students, so the
progression of students from primary to elementary, elementary to
middle, or middle to high school is called by another name. Move-Up
Day, Promotion Day, Recognition Day, or Step-Up Day are among the
names given this special and memorable event.
This month, we talked with our Principal
Files team about ways in which they recognize their graduates.
We learned that the scope of recognition activities is as varied
as the graduates themselves!
STUDENTS AND FAMILIES FIRST
"We believe graduation is a time for families to come first. Families
come to see their kids walk across the stage, so everything works
from there," principal Tony Pallija told Education World. While Pallija is a high school
principal, his thoughts about graduation make real sense across
the grades. He and the staff at of North Canton Hoover High School
in North Canton, Ohio, make an extra effort to communicate carefully
and often with families about the upcoming events. "We spend the
extra postage to mail each family an invitation to the ceremony
along with information about how many tickets they will receive,
parking, times, dress… You name it, we mail it."
North Canton's ceremony also puts the kids up front. "The best
speeches at graduation are the ones by the students," added Pallija.
"We let them talk about their four years and the future. We don't
get some Ph.D. to tell kids to be flexible or to be lifelong learners."
RECOGNIZING SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
Many schools recognize special students at their moving-up ceremonies.
"I like to reward students with certificates and trophies that recognize
academic achievement," said Donnette McNeill-Waters, principal
at Bennion Elementary School in Taylorsville, Utah. "If we can give
trophies for kicking a soccer ball into a net, then we can certainly
reward academic achievement and good behavior."
At Clinton (Michigan) Elementary School, principal Marcia Wright
sends off her fifth graders with a special ceremony that celebrates
their completion of the school's DARE program.
MAKING IT SPECIAL
Wright shared another idea that can make graduation a very special
time. "This idea takes a little planning, but it provides parents
with a recording of their child's voice each year of school," explained
Wright. "In kindergarten, the child might be reciting their ABCs
and in first grade they might do a little reading." In second grade
they might recite a poem, in third grade their times tables…
"What a special tribute for a child to give to parents!" Wright
added.
After seniors at Appomattox County (Virginia) High School walk
across the stage to receive their diploma, "a member of the faculty
meets them at the bottom of the ramp and presents them with a dollar
bill," principal Michael S. Wills told Education World. "That dollar
bill represents the first dollar those students will earn as graduates."
This tradition also helps the faculty to be an integral part of
the event. Every student is chosen by a faculty member to be presented
with a dollar.
Dr. Seuss offers a message that is appropriate for graduation
ceremonies at any level. "One of our teachers read Oh, The Places
You'll Go by Dr. Seuss as part of his graduation address,"
recalled principal Brian Hazeltine of Airdrie
Koinonia Christian School in Airdrie, Alberta (Canada). "It
was very effective!"
"We do a Move-Up Day for graduates," Jim DeGenova told Education
World. This "move up" enables students to meet with their new teachers,
get to know the new facilities they will be attending, and ask questions,
said DeGenova, who is assistant principal at Slippery Rock (Pennsylvania)
Area High School and as well as a part-time elementary principal
at the district's Har-Mer Elementary School.
POWER POINTS PRAISE PROMOTION
During the school year, Donnette McNeill-Waters can often be seen
with a camera in her hand. "I take pictures of special activities
and of children in the daily routine," she explained. "I create
a slide show that I show prior to awarding trophies on the last
day of school. The children love to see themselves on the big screen.
Then we top off the day with a PTA-sponsored carnival."
McNeill-Waters is not the only one who makes use of Power Point
to create special flashback presentations that make graduation day
an extra special day. Students have put together some "moving presentations
using pictures of the graduates through the years," said principal
Brian Hazeltine. "We have a fairly small school, so we can go back
to their baby pictures and include about ten shots of each student
over the year, finishing up with the graduation photo."
At Oak Hill High School in Hineston, Louisiana, that PowerPoint
presentation might include pictures of students in kindergarten,
pictures of them involved in activities they enjoy, special photos
from school activities such as field trips, and photos of their
teachers. Put to music, "these presentations can be full of laughter
or nothing but wet eyes," said principal Marguerite
McNeely.
A DAY FOR A PARADE!
Oak Hill High is a multi-level school that houses grades 7-12.
Eighth graders have a graduation that is combined with seventh grades
recognitions; but the eighth graders stay on after the ceremony
to share refreshments with their parents. Each eighth grader also
is able to invite a friend to the ceremony.
At the high school level, numerous things are done to create a
special day for the 12th graders. "We make sure every senior is
recognized during the ceremony for some special accomplishment,"
said McNeely.
Seniors at Oak Hill also plan their own special parade and are
given priority lunchroom seating on the last day of school. "The
big deal is that they are allowed to arrive five minutes late on
parade day," McNeely explained. "Some wear their senior shirts,
others might dress in costume. The rest of the student body watches
as the seniors go by in decorated cars, honking car horns and playing
their favorite music."
At the prom, the seniors offer a special Last Will and Testament
to the lower-classmen, added McNeely. This is all in fun. "A senior
might will to a deserving underclassman his or her parking space,
a coveted spot on a sports team, a regular seat in detention hall,
the charm to get a passing grade in a particular teacher's class,
a favorite CD…"
One of the most memorable graduations McNeely witnessed was one
in which senior class members shared a moment that had meant a lot
to them on their way to graduation. Some of the things they shared
were surprisingly small things that meant a lot. "It was extremely
personal and touching," added McNeely.
More Cool Ideas for a Special Graduation Day
A recent discussion on a listserv for middle school educators revealed some fun and heartwarming activities those teachers have seen among their schools' promotion rituals. Following are a handful of those ideas:
* In the days leading up to graduation, have the soon-to-be
graduates write a letter to their parents and ask
that the parents write a letter to their child. Exchange
the letters at the ceremony.
* Make arrangements to record a video version of a PowerPoint
presentation that includes pictures of the students throughout
their lives. Sell the video at the graduation ceremony.
The proceeds might be used to purchase a class gift for
the school or to donate to the graduating class's local
charity of choice.
* If you have a concession stand at the ceremony, proceeds
might be used to purchase a school banner, books for the
library, whiteboards for classrooms, bookcases, or other
things the school needs.
* Prepare a special journal for each graduating student.
Throughout the year, teachers, parents, community members,
peers, and others might write messages to the students in
those journals, which will be handed to the students at
the graduation ceremony.
* Instead of presenting a journal to the students, have
the students record in a journal their thoughts during the
school year -- things they are thankful for -- and present
that journal to their parents at the graduation ceremony.
* Teachers might divide up students' names and take responsibility
for crafting a short but special introduction to each of
those students. That introduction might include an anecdote,
a few notes about the students' special strengths or the
changes teachers have witnessed over the years, or other
personal memories.
* At the end of the ceremony, have students walk down an
aisle lined with students from the school they will be attending
next. Those students will cheer, give high-fives, and otherwise
congratulate the incoming underclass.
* As students come up to receive their graduation recognition,
have the principal of the school shake their hand at one
end of the stage. At the other end of the stage, the principal
of the school the students will next attend will shake their
hand.
* As each student crosses the stage, hand the student a
rose for the student to hand to his or her parents.
* Present special awards to students who have come a long
way in spite of the odds that life has presented them. Don't
forget awards in areas that might otherwise be overlooked
-- in technology or music, for example.
* Some graduating students who play instruments in the
school band or orchestra might perform solo or as part of
combos at the graduation ceremony.
* A retiring teacher might give a brief speech.
* Teachers who have taught the graduating students might
take turns calling out names as students come up to receive
their certificates or diplomas.
* As each student is handed a diploma, he or she might
turn and face the audience for a few moments so parents
or others might take photographs.
* If students have been in your school for a number of
years, call them up in the order in which they entered the
school. This works especially well in elementary or K-8
schools. Those who have been in the school since kindergarten
will be the first to be presented their certificates/diplomas.
Those who have been in the school since first grade will
follow...
No matter what grade levels are taught in your school, the end of
the school year offers a special opportunity to recognize those
students who make up the school's "senior" class. Many school districts
reserve the title "Graduation Day" for grade 12 students, so the
progression of students from primary to elementary, elementary to
middle, or middle to high school is called by another name. Move-Up
Day, Promotion Day, Recognition Day, or Step-Up Day are among the
names given this special and memorable event.