My son graduated last year. Like the above poster, I did it the weekend after graduation. I used disposable plates, napkins, cups in the school colors and balloons to decorate. We had a crowd; well over 100 people. I did the picture collages and a video that played on a laptop going through his birth to graduation pictures and videos all set to music. It was wonderful. I also had some of his school work and artwork from the elementary grades, some of it was so funny! Lots of sports memorobilia too as he is an athlete. I made a lot of food! My son's requests were his favorite chicken pasta salad and a chocolate fountain; both were big hits. Since it was his party I wanted to include him in the menu too. We did not serve any alcohol but we did order a Root Beer keg from the liquor store. We put some prefilled cups with ice cream in a cooler so people could make floats but I think most just drank the Root Beer. We went through a 16 gallon keg in a little over 3 hours. It was outside on the deck because it gets sticky. Guest really loved it and I got a lot of good comments. I set up a volleyball net in the back yard. After the official hours of the party, the teenage guests stayed and played some very competitive volleyball for a couple hours and I served them leftover sandwiches, salads, fruit and punch. I suggest you designate someone with your camera to get pictures of your DD with guests, grandparents, aunts, uncles, special friends, etc... you'll be much too busy and you'll appreciate having the pictures later. Have fun and find someone to help you so you can take some time out of hostessing to enjoy your guests. Maryp

I was raised in a Michigan subdivision where the corners of 3 (yes, three) school districts came together in that one sub! Four houses down from mine, started school district #2, and two streets over was the third. The local (Catholic) church where we belonged was in this third area of the subdivision and most of my close friends were ones I'd gone to catechism with from kindergarten on. I was the oldest in a large family and, as a result I guess, a pretty outgoing leader. But, I was going to school with kids I hardly ever saw outside of school. Sadly, I was too shy there to allow myself to relax and "be me". I look back at pictures of me then and realize that I was a very pretty girl, but I honestly never felt very pretty then. I was 5'6" tall, 114 lbs with long, straight dark brown hair, big brown eyes (my best feature) and with one really great figure (gosh, what I'd give to have that body back again!) I was an editor of our school newspaper and in quite a few clubs, but where I came alive was after school and on weekends with my local pals. I was outgrowing my tomboy youth, but still had lots of guy friends. We had a pool in our backyard, a basketball hoop fixed to the garage, a vacant lot a few doors down where we played neighborhood softball, football and ice skated in winter. We had a big finished basement with pool table, Foosball table, tv, stereo, and a fridge that Mom kept stocked with pop (sodas) and snacks for us. Mom & Dad's idea was to make our home welcoming for our friends so that they had us there under their discretely watchful eyes (LOL!). My buddies, siblings and I had lots of fun together, spending as much time as possible outside swimming, skating, biking, playing football, softball and basketball. I can't say that I was miserable in HS, because I wasn't; I just was much more of the real Lynn outside of school. I had many friends in school, but never bothered seeing most of them outside. My HS was quite a ways from our home and too far from my school friends. My parents were not about to start providing me and my sibs with cars, as we were all only 1-2 years apart in age. So, back then, my "social circle" remained close to home. When I started dating, most of my boyfriends went to other high schools. I even skipped the dances and senior prom to go with my boyfriends to theirs. Funny thing was after college I moved to south Florida on the ocean where I worked and spent my after hours scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming, water skiing on the intracoastal waterway, playing tennis, deep sea fishing, and played on a girls beach volleyball team with my many friends. When I went back to my 10 year class reunion, practically everyone mentioned that I was like a totally different person. No, they were just seeing the real Lynn for the first time; my childhood friends knew me all along :~) Lynn

My favorites were Business Law (thought I wanted to be a lawyer at one time)and Business Mgmt. Even liked Accounting. Typing was what I use most now! I was in FBLA Future Business Leaders of America. Sociology was also interesting, but most people took it for an easy A. I got good grades all through high school, but I hated math Alegbra 2/Trig and sciences classes! I remember Psychology was offered my senior year and now I wish I had taken it as I loved it in college! My mom made me take Latin! I protested, since I already finished 3 years of Spanish, but now I understand why she wanted me to learn. Taking Latin first would have helped immensely with Spanish! I can't say I loved it, but it came in handy around SAT time! And it is the root of so many words (Legal/Medical fields) My 2nd year Latin Teacher was wonderful!! She was the kind that if you didn't do your homework, you felt like she was personally offeneded! And you definitely did not want to hurt her feelings! She cared about the kids doing well. She had cancer before she was my teacher, and it went into remission. I heard recently that it came back and she passed away-how sad!! The school lost an awesome lady that day! She was so loving and brave! There weren't many teachers that I felt cared so much about their kids! My Spanish teacher was a hysterical little man! He was quite short, so literally little. He was strict, made us recite oral presentations in front of the class (all in Spanish of course), so woe be to you if you weren't prepared, but he used to make up funny stories about living in a cave in Spain with his pirahnas. I think he did them to see if we were paying attention lol! And to this day I'll always remember how to say-Take out your homework and Do you have gum in your mouth?? Very useful, no? lol

I've found with girls, many of them are there for the social aspect in addition to their love of the sport. Unfortunately now, so many parents are pushing their kids to be a top athlete hoping for that scholarship to college. As mom of four kids who play sports, I've witnessed every different kind of parent and kid out there. My oldest (14 y/o girl) has always played sports but is not a gifted athlete. She's a decent player, but initially started playing as a social thing. She loved seeing her friends, as well as playing, but wasn't born with special talent and wasn't totally interested in working hard to develop her skills. She has played lacrosse and soccer since kindergarten, but always in a rec league. It wasn't until this past summer that it clicked that if she wanted to make the team, she'd have to work hard, and while she did (by the skin of her teeth, I'm sure), she's going to have to really work hard to develop her skills and her conditioning to continue to earn a spot on the team. However, the social aspect of being on the team has really been wonderful for her. It really helped her transition to high school, has really made her feel included in something, etc. She also realizes her limitations - she most likely will not make the lacrosse team in the spring. Lacrosse is HUGE here and if you haven't played club, most likely you won't be good enough for the team. She recognized this all on her own and said she still wants to tryout but if she doesn't make it, she wants to focus on soccer and would like to find a spring club soccer team. Unfortunately, she realized this all a little too late. We never pushed her when she was younger as we always saw her participation as mainly a social thing, but I think now she sees the benefits of being ON a h.s. team, and wishes she had worked harder when she was younger. She would never get a scholarship in any sport, and unfortunately, for many (not all) sports in h.s., even though many won't get scholarships b/c of the competition for them, the level of skill on those teams is still pretty high. Maybe someone mentioned this before, but does anyone remember when they used to have intramural sports? I think that is what the schools need. It would be perfect for someone like my dd, who recognizes that she is not a highly skilled player, but still wants to play, still wants to be part of a team, etc. It's too bad intramural sports seems to have fallen by the wayside, at least around here. My experience with my sons is sure to be different. They are both natural athletes and both have the drive and determination to want to go as far as they can. They both play club soccer, and one plays club lacrosse (other plays rec lacrosse and most likely at some point will switch to focusing on soccer and play that year round as he's not big/aggressive enough for lax). For my boys, we've had to seek out better teams for them b/c they got to a point where their skills were being hampered by playing with kids who were either out there b/c their parents made them, or they just didn't have the skill level, making it hard for the better players to continue to develop at their pace. However, by the same token, leaving their friends behind to play at a higher level isn't always what they want to do either. My older son plays basketball on his school team. It was embarrassing to watch his skill level compared to the majority of the team, some who had never played. The coach was making him play the entire game as he and one other kid scored nearly all the points for the team (which really bothered me b/c I HATED seeing the other kids being benched as this was rec and they should all be playing). We asked him if he wanted to play in a better league this year and he was adamantly against it...he said he wanted to stick with his friends. He loved playing with them and didn't care that they weren't a winning team. As his parent, I'd love to see him play more competitively but OTOH, it's not always about that....having fun and being with your friends is also something that needs to be considered (he's only 12). So I can see both sides of this issue. I do think there should be opportunities for any kid who wants to play sports to be able to, but I also understand the nature of JV/Varsity sports and that not all kids can or should make the team, no matter their skill level. Incidentally, someone mentioned track/cross country/swimming as a good place for kids who can't compete for the team sports. A good suggestion....my dd's friend who was cut from the soccer team, instead went out for cross country. There, they accept kids at all levels and let them develop at their own pace. Same with swimming. I'm actually trying to talk my dd into doing swimming this winter (she used to do summer swim team) but she's convinced it's all these fantastic swimmers and doesn't get that those kids aren't on the h.s. team...they all swim for our very competitive club team here. I know she would have fun...I know the coach...and it would be great way for her to keep in shape for spring sports. Interesting conversation and nice to hear people debate both sides without it getting heated!