The Organ Family: Graduation

After a whole weekend of events, Sunday night was BJ's last "Graduation Celebration." Our home congregation put together a dinner honoring the high school seniors. The entire church is invited along with friends and family. The event is called "Senior Appreciation" and this event has been going on for years.

It is a really fun night. To make this evening possible it takes months of planning and hard work from various members of the youth group and overseeing adults. The decorations are over the top, the food is excellent, the sentimental video is bitter sweet and the theme of the evening is always well executed. This years theme, "Red Carpet", did not disappoint.

Once we entered the dining area, it was like we were transported to a glamorous movie premier. There was a car at the end of a red carpet, bright lights, stars of the rich and famous on the floor, and all kinds of movie memorabilia on the walls and tables.

After everyone found their seat it was time to introduce all 24 seniors one by one. As each seniors' name was read aloud, a chauffeur opened the car door and the senior stepped out to walk the red carpet and meet their parents who then presented their child with a Bible. Once all the seniors were introduced, dinner was served, and the video presentation began.

The video is something everyone looks forward to. A few months before graduation the parents of each senior are asked to turn in pictures of their child from birth to the present. Then those pictures are made into one large slide show and set to music. It is always fun seeing the pictures of each senior in the different stages of their life, especially their goofy stage:)

Along with the pictures that have been turned in, the parents have also been asked to write a letter to their child. The purpose of the letter is meant to express how proud they are of who their child has become. Once the video was finished playing, the letters were read aloud. Both the video and the letters usually require lots of Kleenex.

To close the evening, a prayer was said to bless all the seniors and then it was picture time. Enjoy!

BJ walking the red carpet

Bible presentation

BJ's and her "Celebrity" star

This is one of the creative decorations. They took BJ's senior picture and made it into a movie poster.

Downtown C of C High School Seniors

This past Saturday night was BJ's actual Graduation Ceremony. Traditionally the ceremony takes place on the high school football field. This year the ceremony had to be moved to the Benson Auditorium on the Harding University Campus because of weather. When I say weather, I mean heavy rain, strong wind, tornado sirens, the whole nine yards.

The ceremony was your traditional ceremony: singing of National Anthem, awarding of diplomas, singing of the Alma Mater, and closing prayer. One of the most exciting parts of the ceremony was arriving to our seats and opening the program and seeing BJ was one of four women selected to sign the National Anthem. She did an awesome job!

BJ singing the National Anthem

To sum up the rest of the night, BJ received her diploma and was officially named a graduate. I will close out this entry with several pictures that were taken after Graduation.

Receiving her Diploma