Community Education

Parents throwing a party for graduating seniors from all three local high schools

The mom of a Gig Harbor High School senior was surprised when she learned the community lacked a graduation night party tradition. So she decided to establish a new tradition for Peninsula School District graduating seniors. 

Holly Broadbent has spent the past six months creating a strong foundation for a districtwide Grad Night Party that she hopes will continue into the future. Organizers invite graduating seniors from all three district high schools — Peninsula, Gig Harbor and Henderson Bay — to the celebration from 9 p.m. June 20 to 2 a.m. June 21 at the PenMet Parks Recreation Center, 2524 14th Ave.

Tickets cost $65 each, or $50 each for two or more tickets bought together. Students who have financial hardship can contact the committee for sponsorship.

A tradition elsewhere

Broadbent said her hometown of Wilsonville, Oregon, had a strong grad night party tradition. She wants to create something similar for students here.

“I thought it would be a thing in Gig Harbor, and at the meeting at the beginning of the school year, I heard parents talking in the hallway,” Broadbent said. “A party had been planned a few years ago, but there hadn’t been a lot of support.”

Graduations

Henderson Bay graduation starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 18, at Peninsula High School.

Peninsula High graduation starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 20, at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.

Gig Harbor High graduation starts at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.

She contacted a graduation night party business, but the cost was too high, and the event included a party bus to various venues in Seattle. Instead, she and other parents created the GHHS Parent Committee.

The committee, composed of 12 parents, achieved nonprofit status in March.

“I worked on getting donors, and the sports boosters allowed us to piggyback onto their organization until we got our approval,” she said. “A lot of things have to happen to make this process of planning possible for parents to continue to do it year-to-year without it being so much work.”

The committee members secured catering from BBQ2U and other local restaurants. The party will include a popular live DJ, a photo booth company owned by two Gig Harbor moms called Boomerang Booths and other local businesses, Broadbent said.

Chelsea Chappell and Kim Huish, owners of Boomerang Booths, will have a photo booth at the Grad Night Party to capture memories. Photo courtesy of Boomerang Booths

Accommodating all

Broadbent said the committee worked hard to accommodate every graduating senior. Organizers want kids who don’t always get invited to parties or who aren’t at ease in big crowds to feel comfortable celebrating.

PenMet Parks’ new recreation center, she said, allows for the party to have game rooms and quieter places for smaller groups to hang out.

“It’s exciting to have those memories without needing to be in a giant mob of people,” she said. “We want them to know we are proud of them, and they have a community that supports them.”

The committee sold 75 tickets as of June 14.

“We would love to have at least 100 kids show up,” she said. “The rec center can accommodate several times that amount.”

Adding casino games, and a mobile cocktail bar that will serve mocktails has given this years’ party a casino night theme, she said.

Max Collinge and Felix Boyer are the owners of High Spirits Mobile Bartending, which will be serving mocktails at the Grad Night Party at the PenMet Parks Recreation Center. Photo by Rachel Syrisko Photography

Looking to the future

Ten parents signed on to chaperone and PenMet Parks employees also will help.

Kim Huish is co-owner of Boomerang Booths, the photo booth company that will set up at the party. She has a son who is a junior at GHHS.

“I’m excited about carrying on this tradition that Holly and the committee have started,” Huish said. “From the minute we heard about it, we loved the idea of offering a fun and safe environment for all graduates to celebrate. I think it will just keep growing every year, and I have three other (younger) children so I think it’s a tradition that could take on more meaning, and more fun. I love that this is for any graduating senior, and it’s really fun for our community to bring friends together.”

Grad Night Party

When: 9 p.m. Saturday, June 20, until 2 a.m. Sunday, June 21

Where: PenMet Parks Recreation Center, 2524 14th Ave.

Cost: $65 for one ticket, $50 each for two or more purchased together. (Students who have a financial barrier can reach out to the committee. Donors will sponsor students in this situation.)

To purchase tickets: https://ghgradparty.snappages.site/senior-grad-night-party