SCHOOL GRADUATION PARTIES TO BENEFIT FROM PILOT PROGRAM

Students throughout Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio will benefit from a local business' efforts to protect the lives of high school seniors and others who might come into contact with them on graduation nights throughout the region.

TCI Cable is the sponsor of Operation Graduation, a massive campaign that promotes chemical-free high school graduation parties. The company has launched the event in cooperation with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Destructive Decisions. It will provide funds to schools in communities it serves so graduating seniors have a safe party alternative.

"We want to make a stand in the communities, saying we're interested in helping the community -- we're not just interested in getting you to watch TV," said Keith Ellis, TCI director of event marketing. "Many schools do have these programs, so we're basically just saying we support these programs."

Ellis said the company held a month-long promotion during which a $5 donation was made from each new subscription to Operation Graduation. When a subscriber upgraded their service, $4.95 was donated to the fund, he said.

In all, an estimated $200,000 will be divided by the more than 1,400 high schools in the region, he said.

Some 50 schools in Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri will benefit from the promotion, whether they provide a graduation party for their seniors or not. "We don't guarantee that all the schools will participate, but we do guarantee that all the schools in the TCI Midwest region will receive money," Ellis said.

At least three area schools in the TCI region will be holding graduation parties this year. Cape Girardeau Central High School and Thomas W. Kelly High School in Benton have held the parties on graduation night for a number of years. Jackson High School seniors will have a party before graduation to grant parent requests that graduation night be set aside for family activities.

Cape Girardeau schools superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent said the money will benefit the graduation party planned for Central High School seniors May 31. Tallent and his wife are coordinators for the event this year because their daughter Kristen is senior class president.

"We're working hard on it trying to get donations, but we certainly could use more," he said.

Tallent said chemical-free parties are a good idea because they provide monitored activities for seniors. Doors are locked after a certain time, and students aren't allowed to enter or re-enter the party, he said. In addition, parents are called if a student decides to leave so there is no confusion about his whereabouts, he said.

About half of all Central High School graduating seniors attended the party last year, said Tallent.

"We call the parents and let them know their son or daughter is leaving the party because we don't want them to think they're with us when they're not," he said. "It's a good thing because we receive good community support."

Colleen Keys, mother of a Central High School student, said the event is also good because students get to have a "last hurrah" together and because they are eligible for T-shirts and door prizes throughout the night.

"I like it because it's monitored and safe, and as a parent that's important to me," she said. "It's also just kind of a nice last hurrah for the seniors."

Ellis said TCI executives hope to take the Operation Graduation program national in the future. Response for the program has been good so far, and it is important for people to know graduation time is a peak season for alcohol-related youth fatalities, he said.

Operation Graduation

Area schools eligible for TCI's Operation Graduation program:

MISSOURI:

Advance High School

Cape Girardeau Central High School

Chaffee Junior-Senior High School

Delta High School

Jackson High School

Leopold High School

Notre Dame High School

Oak Ridge High School

Oran High School

Perryville High School

Scott City High School

Scott County Central High School

Sikeston High School

Ste. Genevieve High School

St. Vincent High School

Thomas W. Kelly High School

Woodland High School

Zalma High School

ILLINOIS:

Century High School

Egyptian High School

Harrisburg High School

Herrin High School

Marion High School

Massac County High School

Meridian High School

Murphysboro High School

Shawnee Junior-Senior High School

Shawnee Senior High School