WOODBURY — Senior year can be one of the best and worst years of high school. To relieve the senior’s stress of leaving for the real world, Nonnewaug hosts GradNite for seniors to enjoy food, games, music, and more on the night of graduation.
But how does this fun-filled night come to be?
Dr. Mykal Kuslis, Nonnewaug’s principal, explains why it can be difficult to hold such an expensive night for NHS seniors.
“$25,000-$35,000 are spent to put on the event, renting the facility, getting transportation, and getting the prizes lined up,” Kuslis said. “We look at the clothing fundraiser and it raises about $2,000, so [that] is a big chunk of it, but there is still so much more that goes into it. We have to make sure that we have someone manning that point every year: That is the challenge.”
The prizes given include gift baskets, gift cards, big-ticket items like TVs, Apple Watches, iPad, AirPods, Yetis, and much more.
Some ways Nonnewaug’s staff contribute to the night of fun are by supporting fundraisers for GradNite.
“We promote GradNite fundraisers and events throughout the year through our weekly parent news updates and staff notes,” Lewis said. “They do a clothing drive in the fall, pasta fundraisers, and things like that. We make sure that we help them spread the word through our channels of communication, and obviously buying stuff from the fundraisers as well.”
Meetings for this planning are held monthly in the ag building.
Junior Noah Sapack for the last five years has helped to organize this fun night by participating in fundraisers.
“I think more students are needed to show up at the GradNite events like the Grinch Breakfast and a few other fundraisers,” Sapack said. “If students show up more at GradNite in itself, it would help with the prep work.”
Both Noah Sapack and junior Kyleigh Paige speak of the need for more student involvement, which is becoming an important factor in helping GradNite to become as fun as possible.
“We hope we get a lot more student involvement this year,” Paige said. “We have a lot of events coming up like fundraisers, and it helps raise money for GradNite.”
Committee member and head organizer Christine Paige makes a bigger impact than most know. She works behind the scenes to make GradNite as organized as possible and has been the hidden miracle worker behind this night for years.
“It takes the whole school year to prepare,” Christine said. “I do spend time over the summer planning fundraisers and reaching out to any senior families I know to get them involved. The more parental participation and help, the better that GradNite can be.”
Christine Paige stressed the need for more volunteers, both students and parents.
“The difficulty with preparing for this is lack of volunteers and parent involvement,” Christine continued. “If we do not have enough manpower, we can not offer as many activities, games, food and raffle prizes. The more people involved, the more we can offer that night.”
Nonnewaug GradNite is set for the night of the Class of 2024’s graduation, and with enough help, it will be far from a disappointment. For more information, check out the GradNite website.
