Dear Parents and Guardians

Safe Grad is now entering its sixth year of operation. It is a huge undertaking that requires many hours and volunteers to pull together. We have discovered over the years, that many are unaware of what exactly Safe Grad is and what is needed to make it happen. We hope this letter may help answer some of your questions.

Held on the same night as the Grad ceremony, Safe Grad is an all night, safe celebration for all grads and their guests. Held at the DARC, with a supervised shuttle to Timber Lanes Bowling Alley, grads and guests can take part in the Grand March, dancing, inflatable games, casino games, swimming, movies, auction and prize give away It begins with the Grand March early in the evening and ends with breakfast at 5 a.m. Fund raising is a big part of organizing this event as it costs a great of money for all of these activities and a lot of man hours. Everyone goes home with happy with great memories of their graduation from DHS.

Everyone and anyone who is interested in helping out in a meaningful way is welcome to help. Parents, guardians, former grads. GRADS, students from all grades needing to earn volunteer hours and interested community members are welcome to participate. Students from grade nine on, can earn Safe Grad points once their volunteer hours are complete. Parents and others can earn Safe Grad points for any student who is currently enrolled in DHS. These volunteer activities are not restricted to grads. We keep track of these hours and the student will get points totalled the year they graduate.

Prize points are used the night of Safe Grad to give away wonderful prizes. Students are called to choose prizes based on a descending order of points. The highest point earners are called first, working down to the least amount of points. NO GRAD IN ATTENDANCE at the time of the prize give away is left out and all the prizes are great. Working on any of the Safe Grad activities during the year will earn you points.

If you are in need of volunteer hours, Safe Grad is a community event and can be used to accumulate these hours. Volunteer hours must be credited before you earn grad points. However, all hours put in for a student by someone else (IE a parent/grandparent) will earn points. You can start earning points in grade nine once you volunteer hours are done.

This event cannot simply be organized and chaperoned by grade 12 parents alone. They do the bulk of the work in organizing and fund raising throughout the year, but on the actual day of the ceremony and the Safe Grad event, many others are needed to allow parents to enjoy the wonderful moment their child graduates from high school. It is difficult for them to be in two places at once and even more difficult when a house full of out of town guests arrive to share in the day. Please help us continue this wonderful event and make it an enjoyable one for grads and their families.

If you are interested in helping out and starting to earn points for your future grad, please do not hesitate to contact me to let me know or come out to any of the meetings. Safe Grad meeting nights are usually determined early in the fall for the upcoming grad year. Listen to the radio to find out when the first meeting will be. It is usually also announced at the school. Points are given to those in attendance at meetings as well.

For more information, call Donna Gereben (Chair Safe Grad 2005) at 223- 4841 or students can contact Mr. Gereben during the lunch hours, before or after school any school day.

Please help us continue this wonderful event for the students.