Thankful for the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom. Your life, your sacrifice is not forgotten…but is remembered today and generations to come. God bless you, and may God bless America.
Credit: The Skit Guys
Thankful for the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom. Your life, your sacrifice is not forgotten…but is remembered today and generations to come. God bless you, and may God bless America.
Credit: The Skit Guys
Andy Stanley brings some great advice on parenting kids in middle school. Also provides great value to those working in middle school ministry.
As I mentioned last week, Senior Nights have their benefits. And one of the greatest things about planning these events is the sky is the limit. Typically, I try to plan the event around personality of the people graduating. If it is a more outgoing group, I would try to get them more involved during the presentation. For the introverted group, I would make it more low-key and enjoyable for them. Regardless, I do my best on a reasonable budget, to make this night unforgettable and truly memorable for the senior and their families. Here are a few ideas…
A Night at the Oscars. This took some prep work in our event planning. The month prior to senior night we had a video contest, where students would get together and produce their own short film. Little did the seniors know, this would play into their Senior Night. At the Senior Night, awards were given from those films such as best actor/actress, best film, best cinematography, etc. Oscars were made from gold paper (I still have mine in my window sill of my office.
The night was just like the Oscar night. Each senior was picked up from a designated area in a convertible donated by someone in the church. We pulled out the red carpet for our seniors to enter. The entire church was waiting for the seniors as the pulled in one-by-one. Each senior was interviewed in from of the church and cheered and celebrated.
The schedule began with an opening monologue, Oscar awards, band performance, video of seniors pictures given by parents, and time of prayer. The night also included a brief devotional by our lead pastor.
Olympic Ceremony. Just like the Oscars, this took advance planning as well. Medals can be made or bought at a local party supply store. These medals were given in a special ceremony for each Olympic event the month prior.
A special host is needed for this event. In this case, I was Bob Hope. You can be creative with this. Other parts of the program included a live band performance, Gospel presentation, charge to seniors and families, video presentation of pictures of graduates growing up, commercials, and an unforgettable skit.
Awards Night. Again, needed a prior event for this senior night to work. So, we had a talent show the month before to allow for awards to be given. Awards were based on that particular night. The creativity comes into play on this part of the night where you try to come up with as many categories as you can to give out as many awards as you can.
Schedule included recorded testimonies of lessons learned from the seniors, red carpet entrance and interviews, monologues for presenters, memory/picture video of seniors, and special guest host.
Price is Right. We really outdid ourselves this year. Set design, logos, name tags, host scripts, items up for bids, prizes to be won, cars given away (matchbox, of course…what budget do you think I have?), and much more. It was incredible.
Again, we invited the church. But this time, they were the audience helping each contestant. There was only 2 seniors this year, so they were the 1st two contestants called. We had 4 games ready to play (can be found here), and the seniors each played the game, along with two other contestants. We had a digital wheel to spin. And even a showcase showdown!
The night began with a devotional, and then the worship center turned into the set of the Price is Right. The whole audience had a blast, and it was a very memorable night for our seniors and their families.
It did take a tremendous effort from our leaders who designed the set, got sound effects for the show, helped the students design t-shirts, gathered prizes, and the list goes on and on.
Keys to Remember:
What are some of your senior celebration ideas?
Senior night celebrations are special in many ways. If you think it does not have an impact on the graduating seniors…think again. Here are just a few good results of a well planned senior night celebration.