By: Natasha Enis, Follow South Jersey Community Journalist
MOORESTOWN, N.J. – Along with graduation ceremonies and various parties hosted in celebration of the high school Class of 2025, many towns have adopted the tradition of Project Graduation, an event that has become particularly big in Moorestown.
The idea of Project Graduation began about three decades ago in Oxford Hills, Maine after several graduates died from drinking and drug-induced incidents while partying. Amanda Pietz, one of the organizers of Project Graduation in Moorestown, explained that “the purpose is to have a fun night where all of the graduates can participate together and without any drugs or alcohol. We keep all the kids safe and bring them together to hang out one last time.”
Parent volunteers bus the students to surprise destinations with fun activities along the way until the early hours of the morning. Over the years, the project gained popularity and spread throughout the nation. It was adopted in Moorestown in the 1990’s.
For Moorestown graduates, the first stop of the night this year was the Funplex in Mt. Laurel. Senior Tuana Helvacioglu remarked that “this stop was probably my favorite since we had full access to the whole place, such as bowling, laser tag, bumper cars, and, of course, the food.” There was also a variety of rides that made the evening action-packed and brought out everyone’s inner child.
The graduates then went to Top Golf, where there was just about everything from vendors reading tarot cards to gaming tables. Parent volunteers also walked around handing out raffle tickets that the seniors could use to win prizes such as gift cards, bikes, and even laptops.
Thunderstorms delayed the graduation ceremony since it was held on the football field. With everything shifted a couple hours back, the graduates weren’t able to make it to their final stop. While returning home after Top Golf and not finding out what the last stop would be was a disappointment, Project Graduation was still, as always, a meaningful experience for the community.
Pietz explained that “it’s really one last opportunity for the kids to be together. There are a lot of grad parties, but you can’t necessarily have all 340 kids in your class attend. So this is a chance for all of them to celebrate together.”
Many seniors echoed the importance of this idea. Sophia Chen shared, “It was also bittersweet because this was the last time our entire class would be together again, so this experience meant a lot for all of us.”
Particularly in Moorestown, as a way for the town as a whole to celebrate the graduating class, the seniors are bussed through Main Street on their way to the first stop every year. Residents of all ages come together to line the streets for this final “clap out,” enthusiastically cheering to honor the seniors’ achievement.
“It was emotional because we could see that all the people in our community cared so much for us and made the effort to come out and congratulate us on our graduation,” Chen said.
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