According to Wayne Chelf, principal at Dawson County High School, the three most dangerous nights in the lives of high school students are homecoming, prom and graduation.
For a cost of $20 per student, the Dawson County Woman’s Club has organized an event to keep the 2009 graduating seniors safe on graduation night.
Identified as a need for the seniors, the woman’s club will be sponsoring a drug and alcohol free graduation “lock-in,” an overnight party, May 23 at the Family Fun Center for the class of 2009.
“This event will give the students an opportunity to do something fun, structured and recreational on their last night together as a class,” Chelf said.
Organized in conjunction with the administration and senior class of Dawson County High School, and the fun center, check-in for the event will begin at 9 p.m. and doors will be closed at 10 p.m., allowing no further admissions.
Chelf says that so far the majority of the senior class is excited about the event.
“Presenting the idea to senior class officers and peer leaders first, we received a very positive response,” said Chelf. “This group of about 50 are the ambassadors doing what they can to sell this event to the rest of their peers, and it’s going well.”
Having previous experience with her son participating in a similar event, Alycia Volk thinks the lock-in is “worthwhile to have available for the students.”
Volk is the chairperson of public affairs for the woman’s club who presented thed idea to Chelf several months ago.
“The high school doesn’t currently have a PTO, so we approached Mr. Chelf with this idea and he thought it was great,” Volk said.
Co-chair for the event Mary Mullineaux is looking forward to providing the seniors with one last chance to enjoy each other’s company.
“This is an activity that is done in high schools across the nation,” said Mullineaux. “This is the first time that Dawson County will have an event like this.”
Although the woman’s club is the main force driving the event this year, Volk says she hopes to see this become a community event.
“The seniors have said that no one has wanted to do something like this for them before,” said Volk. “I would love to see everyone chip in and make this something great for them.”
Volk also mentioned that because safety is the number one priority, the Dawson County Sheriffs Office will be present to monitor the area while the lock-in is taking place.
“We want the graduates to have a safe and fun event where they can enjoy each other for one last time,” Volk said.
Games, plenty of food, soft drinks and water will be available. Entertainment, selected by the seniors with appropriate adult approval, as well as door prizes will be some of the highlights of the lock-in.
The Family Fun Center is located at 139 Hightower Pkwy. in Dawsonville.
For questions, more information or how to get involved, contact Volk at (706) 216-2982, Mullineaux at (706) 265-7682 or Chelf at (706) 265-6555.
E-mail Elizabeth Hamilton at elizabeth@dawsonnews.com.