Let's Talk High School Graduation Ideas...

[outtamyshell]

Do you remember the scene in It's a Wonderful Life when they present the new homeowner with Salt and Wine and Bread? That's the kind of thing I'm looking for. I'd love to have the adult mentors in dd's life present these symbolic type gifts one at a time. I'm leaning towards not doing any kind of formal ceremony for graduation. I think it would be nice to have a formal dinner celebration where each guest has an opportunity to present something symbolic. They could be cheap or they could be expensive.

Have you run across any great ideas? I'd love to include a poem or phrase with each gift. Since we won't have any of the traditional type celebrations, I'm looking for ways to celebrate that she is ready to move on; she's built the foundation on which she will build the rest of her life; I believe in her; remember who you are; life is short; it's better to wear out than to rust out; carpe diem; life is not easy, but it's beautiful.

I've only got half-baked ideas... a compass, an hour-glass, a lump of coal, a broken violin, a pearl, a mustard seed.

Please share all of your ideas for objects, expression, poems, etc. I really need help from the hive mind if we're going to do this right.

[Nan in Mass]

A nice poem is The Desiderata. We gave ours a copy of TWEM and a GPS and a big yellow smily-face balloon, all of which were pretty symbolic. We lined up almost all his reading and textbooks on a shelf for people to look at, and pinned some of his work, his transcript, some items from his travels, his gymnastics medals, and his college acceptance letter to a board. All of those gave focus to his party. What I would not do is give a graduate a card that says, "Welcome to the rat race. I hope you get your piece of cheese." A friend of his mother's gave my husband a card like that when we graduated and we've never recovered.
-Nan