School money axed by board - Southingtonlibrary.org

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THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY,
MAY 22,1997
PAGE 9
Festivities preserve graduation memories
By ROBIN L. MICHEL
JI171/11y Itvmg tdllOr
It's been several years since parents
Lee Buzard and Carol Hlne have had
_. cinidrerrrrriocal schools· But they cononue
to gIve hundreds of hours to organIze
the annual gradu.uon party to support
the town's other young resIdents.
"My daughter gradu3ted, I dIdn't."
Joked Hlne She lIke< to continue wIth
the annual prolect for a vanety of rea­
. _ .. sons. "\\'e h3v:, a good tllne. Th,s IS the
last ume these Iuds get together." she explained.
"ThIS IS J good program for
preparatIon
Substance-Free Graduanon
P3rty h3s been under
way for months. "A
Kntght Under the Sea"
tS set for 9 p.m. to 5
a.m., Saturday, June Z I
at the hIgh school Commencement
WIll he held
carher 10 the da}.
The celebrauon fearufes
non-stop aCtl\'ltles,
____ ~a~am~,~nf.cb~~Jn~~ ·:
food, ~nd entert::unment.
Students may roam from
the cafetena, grmnaslurn,
atrium, and audltonum
to 3n outsIde pauo
area, where different
events are featured
Once the students are
admitted, they cannot leave and re-enter
From tnttlal planntng unnl the 13,t
decoraoon IS removed from the walls of
the school, u's the parents who make It
possIble, organtzers saId. The party 31so
receives the extenSIve support of the
communtty and local bus messes.
"It's a tremendous statement by the
parents 10 support of the students, ~ saId
Dr Jerome Auclair, hIgh school pnnclpal
"It's a gIft from parents to graduates.'"
I. 'Sftlt:t"Auclair became prindpal 10
yOtS agO, there has never been a scnous
accident related to senior aCtIVItieS, he
saId. The prtnclpal attnbutes thl< fact to
the alternate events made avaiiahle to
members of the graduatIng class.
Before the first school-spon,ored
~raduatlOn party was held OIne years a~o,
local parents wor~ed extenSIvely with
other parents from Berlin,
who held >lmtl3r events
Since that tIme the proJect·
h" grown 10 scope. The 1996
~rJduattng class numbered 408
student" thIS year It was 468; 3nd
next YCJr IS annelpated to exceed 500
Stutlent~ want to drrend beCdUSC of
the vanety of 3Ctlvme, and the party's
reputatIOn as an evening to rernemhcr,
parents ·explalned. "It's a wonderful
evemng," Aucl31f saId "It', such a good
"
rCJr parry cost an e~tllnaIeo
$15.0UO pnmanlr for entertainment 3nd
Designing Ihe Yellow Submarine mural for Ihe hIgh school
graduatIon party are. from le&, Chns Slemo!. Carol Hine.
Barbara Hegenbert. lee Buzard. and Nancy Kawecki
pnzes .\lany of the additIOnal good"
such a> food and door gtfts, were donated
hy local busmesses As 10 the past, orgamzers
plan to g"'C evety student a door
pnze that could mdude rad,os, cameras,
coolers, or compact dISks C3>mo prizes
are larger and have been dorm refnger3-
tors. tclcvlsJOns or stereos
Orgamzers saId they would Itke to
see more parents become In\olved t:lther
by volunteenn~ or submitting a donation.
Parents are asked to contribute
to ~tfi'ay rdsts but do,;;non";haw,·
low To date, a little more th3n 100 contnbutlons
have been receIved from the
parents out of 468 graduating ,eOlors
".\nythln~ would he appreCIated," satd
Buzard, who co-chaIrs the celehratlOn
""hJoycc Buckley.
The