Graduation night is an opportunity for seniors to come together one last time. In years past, however, parents dreaded the post-graduation party night when kids headed out with their friends to destinations unknown, sometimes ending with tragic results.
But a few decades ago, parents in Ridgefield and Wilton took the post-graduation party culture into their own hands. Now, Ridgefield and Wilton High School grads head from getting their diplomas into a boisterous and fun celebration that’s meticulously planned months in advance. The parties are big. They’re fun. They go all night. And they’re very, very safe – they’re run and monitored by parents who are on-site all night. At the Wilton party, kids must turn in their phones for the night, and no outside food or drink is allowed (there’s plenty to eat and drink inside). Ridgefield High School requires a breathalyzer test before kids come in (and again when they leave, just in case).
But why would kids leave? The parties are designed not just to be safe, but to be incredibly fun, with dozens of activities, food and entertainment, and awesome prizes.
“We have close to one hundred percent participation from the graduates,” says Emily Mills, who’s been running Ridgefield High School’s post-graduation party since 2018. The same is true for Wilton, says Chandra Ring, executive director of Wilton Youth Council. RHS’s party turns the entire Parks & Rec Center into a giant casino-themed event complete with blackjack, arcade games, karaoke, and “lots of fun, silly games like roll-the-Oreo-down-your-face,” says Mills. The party, which is free, is limited to RHS grads only, starts at 10 p.m. and ends at 3 a.m. There are raffles throughout the night with amazing prizes that have, in the past, included scooters, Yeti coolers, iPads, and Playstations. There are pies from Planet Pizza and, of course, Chez Lenard hot dogs. “He’s phenomenal,” says Mills of the beloved sidewalk fixture. “Every year he donates his time and hot dogs. That’s always wildly successful.” State Representative Aimee Berger-Girvalo shows up to run some Midway games. “We have incredible community support,” says Mills.
Wilton’s party is open to graduating classes from Wilton-area schools (public and private), and is put on by a local nonprofit and paid for through a combination of fundraising and ticket sales. It takes over three floors of Chelsea Piers in Stamford, rolling out activities throughout the night. “Students arrive on the first floor and explore activities like ice skating,” explains Ring. “As the evening builds, we open the second and third floors. At the end of the night, the students have moved into some type of entertainment. One year, we had a magician; another year, it was a hypnotist.”
Celebrations as large as these don’t run themselves. It takes months of planning to pull together sponsors, raffle donations, safe transportation options, local police presence, and event logistics including scheduling hundreds of parent volunteers who take shifts on-site throughout the night. “We have a magnificent number of volunteers who chair and work with committee chairs, and are the ones executing this event,” says Ring. “They are doing the heavy lifting.”
Then there’s the week-of final sprint. Mills and her crew start loading in Rec Center decorations the Friday before.
Post-party, everything has to be broken down and cleaned up in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Ridgefield’s Rec Center may be a rowdy casino for five hours on graduation night, but come the next morning it goes back to being a Rec Center. Chelsea Piers has to open up the next day for its regular members.
“We tried to hire a late-night cleaning crew at one point,” says Mills. “But that was hard to find, so now we hire recent grads. They come in at 3 a.m., and they have the energy to climb up those ladders. We’re usually out by 5 a.m.”
As the parties wind down, measures are taken so parents are assured that their kids are getting home safely. For the Wilton party, there are shuttle buses back to a designated meet-up zone for a pre-arranged pick-up. For RHS, the kids are breathalyzed one more time when they leave, to ensure someone sober is behind the wheel.
The massive amount of behind-the-scenes work might be invisible to the kids, but Mills knows the event is deeply meaningful. “They go through graduation that day and want closure – to come together one more time and have fun,” adds Mills. “Me, I go home and collapse.”
To support these Post Grad Parties or for more information, please visit rhspostgrad.com (RHS) or email cring@wiltonyouth.org (WHS)
