President's Message

July 2016

Dear Families, Teachers and Staff,

Safe, Sober and The Time of Their Lives!

Westfield’s Class of 2016 Celebrates Graduation with Community Support

With clocks heralding their arrival at 11:00 p.m. on the evening of June 21st, graduates of Westfield High School’s Class of 2016 began arriving for a graduation celebration designed for one primary reason: to keep these teens safe and sober on one of the most dangerous nights of their young lives.  But don’t tell them that.  To them, it was an evening of fun, games, dancing, food, friends and lots of prizes; one final celebration of their four years of hard work and success.  They had earned the right to celebrate!  And their parents could rest easy, knowing they were having fun at a safe, sober, and chaperoned event.  But it wasn’t always this way.

In 1987, the Department of Motor Vehicles identified a spike in alcohol and drug related accidents specifically on high school graduation nights. This study prompted the VA Department of Education to develop the “Virginia Operation Graduation Project,” to provide guidelines to schools on hosting drug and alcohol free graduation celebrations. Thus began the tradition of Westfield High School PTSA hosting the All Night Grad Party (ANGP).  Although the event has changed in venue and activities over the years, the one thing that hasn’t changed is the amount of parent and community involvement needed to make this event a success.

As a change this year, the All Night Grad Party was held at our school and included inflatables, a “casino”, a DJ with dancing, caricaturists, masseuses, movie room, photo booths, a “blizzard of bucks” game, air brush tattoos, an illusionist, endless food, and, of course, the ever popular mechanical bull!

When 4:00AM rolled around, a large number of graduates left with their arms full of fabulous prizes!  Thanks to the generosity of our Centreville, Chantilly and extended community, more graduates than ever were able to win raffled prizes donated by the following local businesses, as well as WHS families:   

• Brick’s Pizza
• Chick-Fil-A Chantilly
• Potomac Nationals
• Virginia Tech Bookstore

The Westfield High School PTSA would like to extend our deepest gratitude to these businesses and all the individuals whose generosity and hard work made a safe and sober All Night Grad Party a sensational event for the WHS Class of 2016.

Tricia Monroe
Westfield HS PTSA President