Throughout the K-12 school experience, students actually have a few graduations. Most schools have a kindergarten graduation, as well as a fifth grade and eighth grade graduation, depending on how the school district is set up. If students go to sixth grade in a different building, then they will probably have a fifth grade graduation. Then, of course, there's high school graduation after thirteen years of education. All of these graduations can have themes to make them more fun, special and celebratory.
Kindergarten Themes
Kindergarten themes are fairly easy to come up with, and plan. These themes usually revolve around new beginnings or springtime, with cute decorations, invitations and even refreshments. Kindergarten graduation is a less formal event and might even contain a program put on by the kindergartners that can be worked into the theme or actually provide the idea for the theme. Some common kindergarten graduation themes are: Patriotic, Growing (plants/flowers/spring) and Formal (with caps and gowns). For example, if you choose a Growing theme, children could parade into the room, each holding a flower pot, and hand it to their family. They could have T-shirts (pre-made) that say, "We are growing into first graders." They could sing songs about flowers or spring, and maybe act out a book like Eric Carle's "The Tiny Seed" before they receive their kindergarten completion certificates.
Elementary/Middle School Themes
If you are planning an elementary or middle school graduation, then you are looking for a more formal theme--similar to high school graduation. At these graduations, many awards are usually presented, as well as some sort of certificate of completion. There's often a reception for families and the students. You can work the theme into the ceremony and the reception. Some possible themes would be: "Oh, the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss, Silver and Gold, or Balloons and Confetti (a celebration). For example, if you choose a theme of Silver and Gold (or you could even just use your school colors), you would decorate the gym or the auditorium with gold and silver streamers and balloons, find some large, decorative numbers in those colors, to display for the class's high school graduation year, and use gold and silver plates and napkins at the reception.
High School Themes
Many high school graduations do not have themes. But if you need to plan a theme for a high school graduation, keep it simple. The theme should be in the background. The important thing on which to focus is that students have accomplished their goals through hard work and are graduating from high school. Some subtle themes could be: Celebrate School Spirit, Here's to the Future, or Thanks for the Memories. If you choose a theme like Thanks for the Memories, you could ask each graduate to supply some photos from their favorite high school moments to put into a PowerPoint presentation to show before and after the ceremony. You could also ask students what their favorite memories were from high school, write them up in a special edition of the school newspaper and pass it out to each family with the graduation ceremony programs.
Tags: high school, school graduation, high school graduation, high school, choose theme