Senior All Night Party hopes to bring peers closer

Parent volunteers prepare for post-graduation event

Senior+meeting+held+April+11+discussing+the+Senior+All+Night+Party+and+Prom.+Prom+will+be+May+5.

Isaac Wahl

Senior meeting held April 11 discussing the Senior All Night Party and Prom. Prom will be May 5.

Isabel Kjaer

According to senior Tommy Guddal, the Senior All Night Party provides an opportunity for students to celebrate their graduation and spend time with their classmates.

“I’m planning to attend because it’s a very good opportunity for students,” Guddal said. “It’s a great last ‘hoorah’ to celebrate graduation with all your peers who you’ve spent four years with and gotten to know.”

Senior All Night Party Parent Committee prize co-chair Kirsten Brekke Albright said graduates can participate in any activity at the Rec Center.

“They have access to the ice skating, they can play broomball. Basically, they have access to the full Rec Center, and then we bring in a lot of professional entertainment,” Brekke Albright said. “It’s a big production.”

Guddal said there will be assorted prizes, activities and food to keep the students occupied.

“They give away a lot of stuff, which is exciting. I hear they’re good prizes,” Guddal said. “That’s all I really know that they do. I know they do have other activities and a ton of food.”

According to Brekke Albright, the committee encourages donations and holds fundraisers to buy enough prizes for each graduate attending, in addition to a number of larger prizes.

“We probably end up with 20-30 pretty big prizes, and then we try to get, depending on how our donations and fundraising goes, enough prizes so that every student that attends goes home with something of significance,” Brekke Albright said.

According to Brekke Albright, with the price at $75, there are students who cannot afford to pay the full price. Instead, she said graduates pay whatever price they can afford and others have the option to donate any amount of another ticket while purchasing their own.

“If anybody’s in a hardship situation or they’re just really struggling to pay for the ticket, we say, ‘What can you pay?’ And if it’s $10, if that’s all you can pay, that’s just fine,” Brekke Albright said. “Obviously for those that can afford it, we want them to pay the full amount, but it’s really our number one goal to have the highest attendance possible.”

Guddal said the steep price could decrease attendance for students who cannot afford the ticket cost.

“That’s a lot. That might bring (attendance) down for a lot of kids. That’s a lot of money for a lot of people, including myself,” Guddal said.

According to senior Sarah Green, the party’s cost is logical, particularly when considering all the expenses the party entails.

“I think it’s a little expensive, but I understand why, to rent out the space and to have prizes,” Green said.

Brekke Albright said parent volunteers notice at the party, graduates spend time with each other as one undivided class.

“We definitely find that on that night, everyone is just enjoying their time together,” Brekke Albright said. “It’s not just little groups of cliques of kids. It’s just everyone all together.”

According to Green, the party gives seniors a last chance to bond with their peers.

“It’s a good way to have all of the seniors together and have fun all night for one last time,” Green said.

According to Brekke Albright, the Senior All Night Party Parent Committee is putting on a fundraiser from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. April 15 at CycleBar in Uptown for $25. There is a link to sign up here.