Celebrating the Legacy of Your School’s Graduating Class

It’s hard to believe that it is over. Last week, my son, Ben, graduated from the school he has attended for the past 14 years. He has been a “lifer” at Keswick Christian School in St. Petersburg, FL. Soon, he will be on his way to study at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix (I am thankful for my frequent flier miles!).

I have always enjoyed attending graduating ceremonies. It is the culmination of the achievements of students that have reached a key educational milestone.

Graduation is a time to celebrate the accomplishments of each student and the entire class.

The following are three ways that you can celebrate the legacy of your school’s graduating class.

Three Ways to Celebrate the Legacy of Your Graduating Class

1–Graduation Ceremony – As I sat through my son’s graduation ceremony, one of the highlights of the program was the portion entitled, Legacy of a Class. My son’s school has a tradition of telling the story of the class through the perspective of when each student started at the school. The narrator begins by telling the story of the students that began in preschool. She called them by name to approach a designated spot on the stage and then shared some highlights from their preschool year. As she moved on to Kindergarten, the next group of students that joined the school that year were called to their place on the stage and additional memories were shared. This followed for each grade level until the last student joined the group to show the entire graduating class. The last student to join the graduating class transferred in during her senior year.

During this presentation, you could watch how the class grew and changed and created memories throughout their school experience. This is a powerful and creative way to share the legacy of a graduating class. If you are interested in viewing this presentation, you can click here to view the graduation ceremony recording (fast forward to the 1 hour 16 minute mark).

2–Graduate Stories – In the schools that I coach, I have encouraged them to share stories of their graduates. The reality is that you already have pictures of your graduates and the plans for their future education as collected by your guidance office for the ceremony. This content can be posted on Facebook and Instagram.

With this content, some schools posted a graduation countdown featuring a student story every day before the big event (see examples below). Some Christian schools used this strategy to focus on asking the community to pray for the graduate in a senior prayer countdown. Others are using this content to share stories of their graduates after the graduation ceremony throughout the summer. Grace Christian Academy in TN shared stories of their “lifers” on their social media channels. Regardless of the approach, the benefit is that you are able to showcase your graduates and celebrate their legacy.

3–Class Stats – Infographics and stats are a great way to showcase the successes and achievements of your class. From their college acceptances (or secondary placement) to the amount of scholarships received, these stats can be used to tell the story of your graduating class. These stats can be creatively communicated in infographics on your school’s website, printed pieces and social media posts.

While there is certainly more that you could do, you can utilize these three creative strategies to the celebrate the legacy of your graduating class.

It is important to remember that prospective parents are interested in seeing the product of your school through stories of your graduates. If they can see their child in these stories, then they are likely to move closer to choosing your school.

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