Home School Graduation Celebration

I find myself reeling today from an amazing weekend full of celebration.  Not only was it my 43rd (ugh) birthday, but we also graduated my daughter from high school the same day.   I am exhausted, but every moment was worth the effort and the event was more beautiful than I had imagined it would be. 

I started home schooling my children four years ago after my daughter's freshman year of high school and my son's sixth grade year of middle school.  The public school system had failed us.  My children were honors students, with my daughter being first in her class of 169.  So, our decision was not one of desperation over our children not learning, but one of the public school system itself and some very negative experiences with the administrators and its environment.  Maybe sometime I can share about that in another forum.

When it came time to graduate my daughter, I really didn't know where to begin.  I googled everything I could think of to get ideas, but sadly, couldn't really find much information on it.  Sure, I could find several images of party decorations, but nothing on how to go about arranging the affair or what to do for the actual ceremony.  This is why I decided to post about our experience and, hopefully, help others to celebrate their own momentous occasion without feeling overwhelmed.

We chose not to be a part of a home school group.  Since we are so involved with our church and community, socialization and extra-curricular activities are very much a part of my children's lives already.  I also had wonderful family and friend support, along with mentors full of wisdom and helpful nuggets that helped me tremendously along the way.  After all, home schooling high school subjects can be pretty intimidating at first.  I would like to give a special thank you to Lee Binz, The Home Scholar for all of her help and support during what could have been a very scary, lonely, and overwhelming time in our lives.  You can find her information here: http://www.thehomescholar.com/ 

A home school group would have had its own formal commencement ceremony and we wouldn't have had to worry about what to do for our daughter.  But, just because our daughter was not a part of a large group with a formal ceremony, it didn't mean that she should not have her own beautiful celebration of equal or greater quality.

I started planning about three months in advance by talking to my daughter to see what important elements she wanted to be a part of her special day.  (the emphasis is there because the day is about your graduate, mom or dad, and not us... remember to honor your graduate's wishes for the event).  She wanted only our closest family members invited and she wanted to showcase one of her many talents in some way.  We made a guest list which included 23 of our closest family members and this helped to set the criteria for a room for the event.  I did all of the decorating and chose to have the party at an all-inclusive venue.  My daughter wanted to have her ceremony on my birthday.  That was so precious to me.  Once we had the date, we chose a rustic resort near our home, Potawatomi Inn and Resort in Pokagon State Park in Angola, IN.  We rented the room which included a luncheon buffet of our choice with drinks, white table linens with black table skirting, china, stemware, and set up and tear down of the room.  I didn't have to cook or clean up the mess!  Glory! 

Once we had the date and the venue, it was time to get a cap and gown and her diploma.  I am so thankful for the website: http://www.homeschooldiploma.com/.  It had absolutely everything we needed to have this ceremony feel as formal and official as possible. The diplomas are so elegant and of the highest quality.  I ordered the cap, gown (also of high quality), diploma, and an honors medal for my daughter in a package the site offered which was a really good cost savings.   

Then came time to invision the decor.  We decided to decorate with our home school colors which my daughter chose to be black and gold.  This, along with white, made a beautiful, formal palette.  I had been working on a graduation video which featured a song in it that has a line which says, "You're so amazing; you shine like the stars."  So, I chose to have stars as the basic theme for the party.  I sketched out what I wanted the room to look like and where the tables would be and that set the tone for how many decorations I would need at each station.  I wanted two long tables lining the back wall that would anchor the room and draw the guests' attention as they entered.  These tables would hold the main grad board along with her featured school work and accomplishments.  Then, I needed a four-foot round table in each corner, one for the cake and the other for the gifts and sign-in registry.  I googled ideas and found elegant ideas for centerpieces on this website:  http://jenniferstonebarger.blogspot.com/2010/07/it-was-such-nice-break-to-do-something.html  The centerpieces were so sophisticated that I had to try my own version.  I thought they turned out beautifully.

I bought the vases at The Dollar Tree store.  I placed black foil paper in the vases along with white paper shred and added glitter star picks which I found at http://www.dazzlelace.com/packagingsupplies/decorations.htm.  I added to that a silk, black and white flower with a cluster of pearls I found at Hobby Lobby to make the arrangement.  I then added cardstock to one of her senior photos and added a black-painted dowel rod and stuck it in the center.  I printed out the inspirational phrases of "Go, Lizzie!" and "The future is bright" using WordArt and attached a smaller, black-painted dowel to the back of those.  I added three black and yellow tulle bows as filler and spiraled some wired stars throughout the arrangement.  Voila!

After making five vase arrangements (one for the gift table, two flanking the grad board in the center of the long tables, and two flanking another grad board at the front of the room), I needed to come up with a unique graduation board or two to showcase my best girl.  I had never seen such a creative graduation board as the ones on this website:  http://creationsfrommyheart.blogspot.com/2010/08/graduation-memory-boards.html  I had never thought of doing boards like this in a scrapbook style!  The first was a lifetime of photos, past to present.  The second was one showcasing her beautiful senior pictures.  Scrapbooking is another one of my passions and it had never occurred to me to do the first board that way.  Go figure.

I got the side vases at The Dollar Tree store.  I lined them with Hallmark damask print wrapping paper.  I then painted a dowel rod black and free-hand drew stars on glitter card stock and hot glued the dowel to the back.  I bought several yards of tulle fabric and cut it into strips and made bows and wired them and stuck them in the arrangements as filler. 

Next, I wanted the tables to be exquisite.  My daughter is a bookworm and so, of course, I used a beautiful floral fabric in the center and topped it with books as an anchor.  I used my long-stemmed, gold-rimmed crystal stemware to layer on the books and filled them with mini-diplomas I made.  I then made mortar boards from foam core boards, button centers, and yellow ribbon for the tassel.  I then added a senior picture and a younger picture.  They turned out great!

I ordered personalized favor boxes for each guest and used lace paper doilies as name cards then printed out an agenda for the luncheon and ceremony.  This gave the tables the polished, elegant look I was hoping for.

I situated the main graduation board in the center of the two long tables and flanked her college acceptance letter and scholarship awards along with another senior picture on either side on easels that my dad made for the event.  At either end of the two long tables, I added the side arrangements, more pictures, past and present, a large bouquet of balloons (I ordered 37 balloons in all) and binders with milestone documents in them.  I found a reasonably-priced, personalized banner at CelebrateExpress.com.

My amazing dad asking the blessing for the luncheon.

The cake table with the cake I made for my best girl...

The gift table...

I completed the room with adding a large bouquet of balloons in the front of the room near the podium where we addressed the crowd.  This provided a very festive backdrop for photo opportunities. 

My husband, our daughter the graduate, and I...

The presentation of the diploma...

I added a special display outside the door to the room for guests as they arrived.  My dad made the floor easel.  I added a welcome board and balloon and her graduation gown.

We had the luncheon first so that the guests would be well-fed and content. (there's nothing I hate more than going to a function and it being FOREVER before you actually eat).  For the graduation ceremony, my daughter wanted me to give the opening address as her home school instructor.  I delivered a brief speech and read a glowing letter from one of her college professors (she has been taking middle college courses on-campus and earning both high school and college credit during her junior and senior year of high school. Upon her graduation, she became a college sophomore with a 4.0 GPA... not bad, not bad at all).  I introduced her to perform a dramatic, interpretive sign language routine... one of her many talents.  I then turned the festivities over to my husband as the home school administrator to present her with her diploma.  While he addressed the crowd, my daughter and I stepped just outside the room into the alcove to get her into her cap and gown.  Immediately after the presentation of the diploma, the graduate addressed the guests.  Then, we had a time for our families to pose for photos with the graduate.  We ended with the cutting and serving of the cake.

The ceremony was so powerful and there was much cheering, happiness, and sweet sentiment, mingled with many tears.  What a joyous event!  My daughter just became engaged, as well, and will marry in three years upon the happy couple completing their Bachelor's Degrees.  I will also graduate my son that same year at the same time.  Time to start planning!  Ha!  I wish you a happy, successful event!