Conard High School’s Class of 2018 Safe Grad Committee has been hard at work on plans for this year’s celebration.

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For 30-plus years, the West Hartford community has come together to support Safe Grad – the all night substance free graduation night party free to all graduating seniors at Conard High School.

This memorable event costs approximately $100 per graduate, but Conard Safe Grad is supported solely by fundraisers, community, and family donations and is free for the new graduates to attend.

The most visible Safe Grad fundraising efforts are the Flocking and Safe Grad Sign fundraisers, which begin appearing throughout town every spring. The tradition of “flocking” is when someone is honored with a flock of flamingos mysteriously appearing on the front lawn. Volunteers enjoy sneaking around in the dark and putting them up, and flamingos appear overnight in yards throughout town every spring.

Conard Safe Grad 2018 has been already putting the “fun” in “fundraising,” with events that have included a Faddy’s Donut Truck afternoon; Taste book, and lanyard, and magnet sales; parent night Brews and BBQ night at Hog River Brewery and Bears BBQ; Dine-In CT delivery day; Dine in Day at California Pizza Kitchen; and a “Cram for Exams” breakfast at night at A.C. Petersen Farms.

Upcoming events include a professional illusionist show on Feb. 25, a spring Moe’s Conard Night, and more events to be announced.

Kayla Drescher. Submitted photo

On Sunday, Feb. 25, guests can enjoy “The Magic of Kayla Drescher.” The show will be held at 2 p.m., in the Sedgwick Middle School auditorium.

A professional magician and Wallingford native, Kayla Drescher will bring her enthusiastic, engaging and contagious personality, all the way from L.A. to West Hartford to make one exclusive appearance to perform her all-ages magic show.

High school students and their siblings, younger kids, parents, and grandparents – watch as the impossible becomes possible. See torn objects restored! Liquids appear from nowhere! Borrowed objects appear in impossible locations!

It’s an interactive show, so get ready to see your friends and family get in on the act. Don’t miss out on this fabulous show sponsored by and benefitting Conard Safe Grad 2018.

The show has been featured in the current season of “Penn & Tellers: Fool Us.” Drescher was Boston’s 2013 “Magician Of The Year,” is The Today Show’s David Copperfield’s “Search For The Next Great Magician” winner, and has been featured on the Comedy Central Stage and by Make A Wish!

Tickets can be purchased online here: https://conardsafegrad2018.ticketleap.com and will be sold at the door if still available.

Refreshements will be sold at intermission and will also benefit Conard Safe Grad 2018. To learn more about Kayla Drescher, please visit www.magicinheels.com.

Coming together and keeping our seniors safe is the theme behind the nationwide Safe Grad movement, which began in the 1980s as a way to combat the dangers of drunk driving on graduation night. According to www.gradnight.org, “A sense of community is developed as everyone works to keep the graduates entertained and safe on potentially the most dangerous night of their lives.”

The Safe Grad party itself will be held from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on graduation night and relies on an large contingency of parent volunteers to make the party a seamless, fantastic experience! On graduation day, parents transform selected areas according to a secret theme. Past themes have included: “Games of Life,” “The Never Ending Story,” “New York, New York,” “Memory Lane,” and “Block Party.”

In order to prepare the decorations, parents meet for months leading up to graduation night to paint and create. The night of the party, parents and staff attend in shifts to supervise, run games, provide security, and clean up.

For more information Conard Safe Grad 2018 events, fundraising, and volunteer and donation options, please visit the Conard Safe Grad website.

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