On May 26, Lake Highlands High School will graduate about 500 seniors.
Senior counselor Julie Mendelson describes the students in class of 1995 as a “very congenial group.”
“They’ve always been cooperative,” Mendelson says. “They’ve been very easy to work with.”
Graduation ceremonies will take place at Moody Coliseum, 6024 Airline Road, on the Southern Methodist University campus at 8:30 p.m.
Seating for graduation is on a first-come first-served basis, says senior class principal Jack Clark. Moody Coliseum seats more than 10,000 people, so there should be no seating problems, he says.
Valedictorian Blake Hill and salutatorian Matthew Densing will give speeches at the ceremony.
Hill says the seniors have been caught up in applying for college and looking toward the future. He plans to tell them to appreciate what they have accomplished already, he says.
“I’ll say: Take a moment and step back,” Hill says. “Look at where you are. Think about what it has taken to get here.”
After graduation, there will be an all-night party organized by parents at Don Carter’s All Star Lanes, 6343 Northwest Highway at Skillman Street, from midnight to 5 a.m.
The theme for the party is “cruising,” says Sheila Archie, who is in charge of the party planning committee and is the mother of senior class president Brent Archie.
The bowling alley will be decorated like a cruise ship with different ports set up to look like New Orleans, Jamaica and Mexico. Sumo wrestlers will entertain the seniors, and there will be prize giveaways.
“It’s a safe environment,” Archie says. “We want the kids to have fun and be with their friends. Some of them may be together for the last time.”
Tickets for the party are $20 if bought between May 8 and May 19 and can be purchased for $25 between May 22 and May 25. Tickets are on sale at lunch time at the high school.
On May 21, a baccalaureate ceremony will be in the high school’s auditorium at 2 p.m. City Manager John Ware will be the guest speaker.
“The ceremony is to give the kids an inspiration and motivational farewell, to tell them good luck in the real world,” Clark says.
There will be seating for approximately 1,200 people in addition to the seniors. Seating is on a first-come first-served basis.
For information, call the high school at 503-4600.
