• Graduation is a momentous event worthy of celebration. This milestone represents the culmination of a student's years of academic efforts. This time usually includes reflection and introspection, as well as spending time with friends and family who have helped the student along the way. When planning a graduation party, there are some steps you can take to make the party exceptional while highlighting the graduate's accomplishments. With a few great graduation party ideas, it is easy to plan a memorable event.
  
  

Life Timeline

• Encourage reflection by creating a life timeline. Tables of pictures or display boards are common at graduation parties. Take this idea a step further and create a life timeline. Attach sheets of poster board to create a poster strip. Use a straight edge to make a line. Label the start of the line with the graduate's birthday, and the end as the graduation date. Delineate the years between these two events. Fill the timeline with pictures in chronological order. Write commentary next to the photos, explaining where and when they were taken. Provide anecdotal information about the events. For a more detailed project, place newspaper clippings of key events along the timeline. This will give the photos historical context.
  
  

Work Reflection

• It is unfathomable how much a student's academic ability grows during his education. Allow people to see just how far your graduate has come--set up a work reflection. Sift through memorabilia for papers your student wrote during his early years. Place the papers on a board, or scatter them along a table. Label the work with the year it was produced. This allows the graduate and guests to see how he has grown academically.
  
  

Guest Book

• Create a fun keepsake. Ask guests to write an entry explaining their hopes and dreams for the graduate in a guest book. After the book has been passed around, put it in safe keeping for a decade. You also can bury the capsule in the yard during the party. This creates a fun event and lets the guests participate in the burial. In 10 years, invite the guests back to unearth the capsule and read the entries. The graduate likely will be delighted by the notes that were written during a turning point in her life.
  
  

Memory Lane

• Spice up your graduation party with a special CD. Look up old top 40 charts, and jot down the No. 1 song for each year, starting with the year of the graduate's birth. Create a CD of these songs for the graduations party. Ask guests to explain what each song reminds them of--they may have some moving memories to share as they take a stroll down musical memory lane. You also can use the playlist as a party favor. Give guests a CD to take home with them.
  
  

Trivia Game

• See how well the guests know the graduate by playing this "Newlywed Game" spin-off game. Select two or three guests who know the graduate well. Line these guests up with the graduate, creating a panel. Provide each panel member with cardboard sheets and a bold marker, then go through a list of questions designed to determine how well each participant knows the graduate. Try such trivia as "What is her favorite cereal?" or "What color was her prom dress?" Ask the panelists to write down their answers and reveal them at the same time. Keep track of the correct answers to see which contestant knows the graduate best.