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Grads Party Safe, All Night Long

Jun 12, 2007





		The main entrance into the converted Live Oak gymnasium welcomed seniors after graduation ceremonies.
		Photo by: Gerry Blanchard








		A sign on the west wall of Grad Night casino floor wishes the Class of 2007 well.
		Photo by: Gerry Blanchard

Morgan Hill - Volunteers who spend hours planning and preparing after-graduation parties for Live Oak and Sobrato high schools want seniors to enjoy themselves, but their main objective is to keep them safe and sober.

"Everyone had a great time, I think, but the real measure of success is that nobody was harmed on graduation night," said Sobrato High parent Janet Boyd, who helped plan and then chaperoned the Sobrato seniors' trip to Boomers in

Livermore for their Grad Night party.

When parents began planning Sobrato's first Grad Night, they knew it would be a huge undertaking and so began working on it years in advance, almost the day the school opened.

The results paid off, as nearly 160 members of the first graduating class enjoyed the all-night party at the entertainment complex that provided go-carts, laser tag, mini-golf and many more activities.

Boyd didn't have a senior this year, her son P.J. will be a senior next year, but she helped in the planning and went along for the actual event Friday night.

"I think it went really well, there was something for everyone," she said Monday. "The one regret I have is that not every senior attended. Maybe next year, if we can bring the cost down, it will help some."

Tickets started out at $100 and rose to $130 by the end of the school year. Scholarships were available for some students, and the Grad Night committee held several fundraising events over two years to lower costs.

For Live Oak seniors, "Club LO" was the place to be after graduation Friday. Parent Linda Lee Smith said Monday that organizers were pleased at the turnout.

"We had close to 200 kids, we had a couple of walk-ins at the last minute, so we topped 190," she said.

The graduating class had 283 students.

Parents spent hundreds of hours building sets for the party, then turning the gym into a fantasy night club. The theme, which is kept a secret every year, was elaborate, with booths and sheer curtains separating areas.

Activities at Club LO included rock climbing, a giant slide, a hairstylist, hypnotist, a station for making jewelry, a DJ and dancing, and, of course, plenty of food and drink.

"Overall, everything went really well," Smith said. "Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, the theme was popular, there were no major problems," she said. "We were a bit worried, because we started preparations a little later than normal, didn't start working on the weekends until March, and we found it a bit tougher to get volunteers this year with the smaller class size, but the group we got was really great, really fun, and we got it all done."

Smith said nearly 100 parents volunteered to help get things ready, some of them for an hour, others for many more hours.