Two Hampden students have minds set on outdoor graduation

HAMPDEN – When Courtney Reeves and Juliana Aurie receive their diplomas from Hampden Academy in June, the girls hope the sun will be shining and their gowns swaying in a light breeze.

Even if the sunshine doesn’t poke through on June 10, the two high school seniors said, anything is better than their school’s cramped, stuffy and poorly lit gymnasium.

“Last year it was miserable,” Reeves said. “It was so hot, the line to get in was so long, and if you have a large family, they may not all be allowed to attend.”

The two wanted more for their own graduation, so they are spearheading an effort to raise $7,100 to arrange an outdoor ceremony on the multipurpose turf field behind the George B. Weatherbee School and Earl C. McGraw School complex.

The high school, which is bursting at its seams with an enrollment of 757 students and hopes of a new school on the horizon, will graduate about 200 students this spring.

In a survey distributed to the senior class, all but two students desired an outdoor graduation, and many have offered to help raise the money, Aurie said.

But the task has been more complex than they anticipated.

“It has been so much work,” Reeves said. “But we can’t give up now. We’ve come so far.”

After finally receiving conditional approval from the SAD 22 board of directors in January, the seniors were given a May 1 deadline to raise all the money for the pomp and circumstance.

While moving the Hampden Academy ceremony from school grounds might be more cost-effective, there’s a sense of pride in having commencement at the school itself, SAD 22 Assistant Superintendent Emil Genest said.

Genest said the girls need to raise $7,100 because the plan for an outdoor ceremony has to include a backup plan for an indoor ceremony in case of rain.

Reeves and Aurie, both 17, worked last summer and fall accumulating a notebook of cost estimates, ceremony layout and potential donors. The expenses include rental of a small tent, purchase of a carpet for the graduates to walk on to avoid scuffing the turf, plywood to place on the turf for the stage to sit on, the rental of 1,200 folding chairs, stage rental, custodial costs for setup and tear down, security costs and the fee to move outdoor bleachers to provide additional seating.

“As a general belief, the board didn’t think they could fund it from the budget,” Superintendent Rick Lyons said in an interview this week. “Even if there were that money, it is taxpayer money, and that is not an appropriate expenditure of funds.”

He declined to say how much an indoor ceremony at Hampden Academy costs.

Before the board will fully sign off on the idea, it has required the girls to receive a written assurance from the turf manufacturer that the ceremony would not affect the field’s warranty. While the field is home to soccer, football, field hockey and softball games, the turf is not designed for activities such as graduation, Lyons said.

After numerous meetings with the board and school administrators, the girls began raising money in January. The board discouraged the seniors from going door to door seeking donations from local businesses because the board said the businesses are called upon too frequently to fund school activities, Lyons said.

“We have tried to get the word out, but it’s going to be hard in such a short time frame,” Aurie said. “We’ll try to use volunteers as much as possible to avoid costs, but we’re still quite a ways from our goal.” So far they have raised nearly $1,000 through a carnation sale and school hat day.

On Monday night the two seniors approached the Hampden Town Council and were granted matching funds for every dollar they raise, up to $3,000. Aurie and Reeves said they would also approach Newburgh and Winterport for donations.

“Oh my gosh, the council money was a huge boost,” Reeves said, bouncing on her family’s couch as she spoke. “We had no idea what to ask for, or what to expect. But we had no idea they would be this generous.” The two also have plans for a school dance, golf tournament, road race and dinner. Club Gemini in Bangor has also offered to give the class $1 for every entrance fee paid during its chem-free nights on April 15 and April 17, Reeves said.

While some on the Town Council said the seniors should not have to pay for their own graduation, Brewer High School graduates, who hold their ceremony at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono, have raised money for their graduation for two years, Brewer Principal Becky Bubar said. She said she hopes to include the cost in this year’s budget.

In recent years, Brewer and Orono high schools have rented MCA’s 1,600-seat Hutchins Concert Hall for graduation ceremonies. It costs $2,500 to $3,000, said Joe Cota, MCA manager of theater operations. A $1,300 base rental fee is charged, then additional costs stem from personnel and equipment costs that vary depending on the school.

Hermon and Bangor high schools seniors use the Bangor Civic Center and Auditorium. Both schools rent space for two days at $1,200 a day for the auditorium and $1,100 a day for the civic center, plus the cost for equipment, staging and other services. Hermon uses only the auditorium section for its ceremony and last year paid just under $4,000, said Lisa Bragg, booking coordinator for the Bass Park complex.

In Hermon, the school pays for the off-site graduation, Hermon Principal Brian Walsh said.

While the rentals are all refundable if Hampden Academy’s outdoor graduation is called off in advance because of rain, the school needs a backup plan, “just in case,” Reeves said.

“I feel some people don’t think we can pull it off, which makes us more determined,” she said.