Fireworks

Fireworks

Post Graduation Ceremonies

June

1994-2007

When I was a high school principal, we had fireworks at the end of our graduation ceremony.  It was great fun and added to the celebration.  The tradition started in 1994 at Stroudsburg High School. We realized we had too many people attending our outdoor ceremony and every attempt to get out of the parking lot quickly was null and void.  But we had a lot of old, sickly, fragile grandparents. So we started the fireworks as a way to weed out the crowd.  The grandparents snuck out when the ceremony was finished and the rest of us stayed behind until the last rocket expired in the air.  And then we cheered and cheered and cheered.

In 2000, I changed schools and mentioned this tradition.  The Springfield people jumped on the idea as well.  At the conclusion of  our indoor ceremony, we wandered outside to a community party.  Since the crowd was already there, it was so easy to add this little extra attraction.

When I retired, a co-worker told me I had done great things as a principal but she was most grateful for the firework. "Every burst of light is one of our kids going off in to the dark to light up the world," she told me.