PHS, OHS Project Graduation offer safe celebration space

May 21—With Permian and Odessa High School graduation coming up Thursday and Friday, Project Graduation is coming right alongside offering a safe, alcohol-free place for grads to celebrate their commencement and potentially win prizes.

Both will take place after the respective graduations from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. at the Odessa College Sports Center. Once the students go in, they can't leave until it's over. If they do leave, they're not allowed back in.

Clara Pride, president of the parent committee for PHS Project Graduation, said the theme is Kicking it Old School. Odessa Police Department Community Relations Officer Cpl. Michael Hamilton will be the DJ.

"It's '70s, '80s, '90s and a 2000s theme that the kiddos will get to dress up and have a costume contest and karaoke," Pride said.

PHS has a class of 780, but typically she said about 300 turn up. Earlier this week, there were about 100 registered.

Pride said they still need volunteers, seniors to sign up and donations. They have sponsorship packages, fliers that they distribute, in-kind donations and a myriad of other opportunities.

"We're going to do a basketball tournament, volleyball tournament, cornhole (and) bingo. And then of course the raffle prizes would have been donated, fundraised for," Pride added.

She added that she has been shopping for prizes.

"I got TVs and laptops. But the biggest prize right now is the PS5. The seniors got excited when I told them about that and that's what got 30 kids to sign up," Pride said.

She said it's very important for kids to attend Project Graduation.

"It's a movement. We're trying to just keep the tradition alive," Pride said.

Pride, who is project coordinator for the Midessa Community Alliance Coalition, has always helped with Project Graduation. She helped at OHS last year.

"We got to stay in there and we sponsored the T-shirts last year. We got to have fun with them all night until we were ready to go home, which was 5 o'clock in the morning. I've kind of been always a part of it. I just never took lead until this year. I'll be with Permian for a while," Pride said.

She added that it's a lot of work, but the outcome is what keeps her going. Knowing the kids are safe is the biggest thing for her.

"There are too many alcohol and drug-regulated accidents on graduation night and that's what we're trying to prevent," Pride said.

Working in drug prevention and knowing that she has a say in the students that come to Project Graduation, it means even more to her now.

"It just feels different. I know I'm doing something right for the kids. I know one night they'll be substance free," Pride said.

There won't be any sleeping. They will have activities every hour from the moment they walk in.

The event is only possible because of volunteer hours and the community. It's not school funded.

Lineth Calhoun, a barista at Starbucks at the Wheatley Stewart Medical Pavilion, is the treasurer for Project Graduation at OHS. Her husband, Christian Calhoun, is president. There are about eight people on the committee.

They have five children together and one is a senior at Odessa High.

"When we told our daughter that we had signed up, she was super excited. I think that gave him more of a thing that we can do together as a family. And not only that, keeping our daughter safe by being able to provide a safe and fun night for other graduating seniors," Calhoun said.

The theme is red and white and they will have "really cool" jumpers from Main Event, a DJ, pizza and a bunch of prizes.

"Christian and I just went shopping. We got iPads, a MacBook, other laptops, watches, Go Pros, surround bars. We got a little blender, we got an icemaker, airfryer. The mall donated a gold ticket for $250, so they get to go shopping wherever they want there. Other companies have donated TVs and United Market donated a $1,000 gift card for (snacks). So we get to go get some snacks, too; a ton of snacks. (We're) trying to get as many prizes as possible to keep them entertained and keep them there," Calhoun said.

They will also have basketball and volleyball tournaments where students can win cash. From first place to third place, they can win anywhere from $25 to $100.

"The closer it gets to the end of the night, if we have a ton of money the more they win," Calhoun said. "We're trying to spend every single penny that we got donated."

They still need volunteers. If people who don't know what Project Graduation is come to it, they might be more motivated to give their time or donate next year.

Some students may think partying and drinking is fun and exciting, but when they hear there are iPads and tablets and all of it is free to them, that gives them incentive to attend.

Calhoun said working on Project Graduation has been exhausting and tiring, but it's been worth it.

"It's been weeks of leaving work, going to pick up checks, going to the bank, going to the post office. But when my husband and I come together and we like catch up. We're like, who else can we hit? Where else can we go? Who else can we ask for donations? Because in our heads, the more money that we raise, the more prizes we can buy and the longer the kids are going to want to stay there and be more motivated to come," she added.

Calhoun said her husband is super excited about the event.

"When we went shopping Saturday, he was all over the place. He was like, what about this? What about that?"

She's not sure how many students will attend.

It was somewhat difficult to get people to donate, but there are some businesses like Sewell Ford and Bobby Cox who already know about Project Graduation and were willing to donate.

"Finding new donors was challenging. I literally sat here for like three weeks, every single day during my lunch, and I called, emailed, called, emailed. But you know what, praise God; he's been so good. New people have donated and it got easier. At first, it was hard, but it got easier with time," Calhoun said.

She added that the most important thing to her is getting to see seniors to get to their first day of college, enjoy their lives and have an adulthood.

"I just want them to know that it's okay to not go to a party and drink. That's not fun. It's fun to go to college and have a career and have a future to look forward to. Us parents are going to be there at OC until like 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in the morning. If any teenager chooses not to go, and they get drunk or high or anything, there's going to be people awake at that time, call. Call me, call my husband, we will go for you. We will be awake; we will go for you; we will pick you up. We will make sure that you get home safe. Just don't get behind the wheel. Don't get in a car with someone who's been drinking; don't make those choices. Choose the future and don't hesitate to call somebody for help. Even if it's your parents and you think you're going to get in trouble. It's better to get home safe," Calhoun said.

The seniors have the Calhouns' contact information.

"And if they don't, they can call any senior that's there. They can call my daughter. The seniors have a Snapchat group text ... All the seniors communicate, and then we'll be able to get a hold of someone. If anybody's willing to still donate, we're willing to take any donations still. That could be candy, food, snacks, anything like that," Calhoun added.