Help Give Fairfax High's Class Of 2021 A Great Send-Off

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Fairfax High School PTSA wants to celebrate the class of 2021 with an All-Night Grad Party. However, just like everything else, the pandemic has thrown a wrench into the planning and fundraising of the event so far.

Organizers only received the go-ahead in January from Fairfax City Public School officials that they could begin planning an event around a tentative graduation date of June 1, with the all-night grad party scheduled for that evening.

"We weren't able to get any information from the school system regarding whether we could have an all-night grad event or whether there was gong to be graduation," Shannon Lane, a Fairfax High School parent and All-Night Grad Party committee member. "It's hard to fundraise when you don't know if you're actually even going to get to hold the event."

To get their fundraising moving forward, the committee came up with three plans.

"Plan A will be a full-on, all-night grad event, maybe not like it was in years past, maybe an outdoor carnival event instead of an inside the school event," Lane said. "Plan B might be something low-key, like an outdoor movie, food truck, whatever. Plan C would just be a drive-through graduation like last year."

On Wednesday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam raised the cap on outdoor gatherings from 25 to 100 attendees, which was an encouraging development for party organizers. Tentative plans are to hold the party at the high school stadium.

While the prospects for an outdoor party have improved, fundraising still remains a struggle.

"Local businesses have been the ones that have really been punished through this pandemic and they're the ones, of course, who are giving," Lane said. "They're giving, but they're not giving like they normally did because they don't have it like they normally have it."

The committee is accepting donations via PayPal. It is also conducting a number of fundraising events, including an All Night Grad Party Silent Auction and Raffle, which concludes on Friday night. Other events include:

• Graduation Yard Sign & Magnet Sale: Order Deadline April 16.
• Nothing Bundt Cakes Fundraiser: Order Deadline April 22 and pickup April 23.

Fairfax High School students only returned to school for two-day-a-week, in-person learning in February. Lane and her fellow parents are hoping to give their children a special send off to help make up for their truncated senior year.

"It's really just about people willing to help our seniors have an ending to a year that up until February has been really non-existent for them," she said. "Anything that anyone is willing to share and contribute is greatly appreciated."