Grad Nite loses its “hype” among 2023 seniors
Grad Nite at Six Flags was canceled due to the lack of tickets sold to seniors, leaving them with no school sponsored post-graduation celebration to look forward to.
The school put out an announcement on March 28th, 2023, informing seniors that what was supposed to be a “Night to Remember,” would simply be a night forgotten. Grad Nite, one of the biggest events for senior class graduates, was a no-go for the Class of ‘23.
A survey conducted by a Bell Chimes reporter shows that more than 50% of the seniors surveyed simply “didn’t want to go.” Out of 20 students who didn’t buy Grad Nite tickets, 11 didn’t want to go, 3 claimed it to be too expensive, 4 didn’t like the fact Grad Nite took place at Six Flags, and 2 students didn’t clear their absences to be eligible for Grad Nite. Although 300 tickets were reserved for the big event, not even 20% of tickets were sold to seniors.
“Had we maybe been even halfway there we could have tried to do something,” PSA Coordinator Marisa Franco said. “But there was like, no way. We sold tickets for about a month. When I would ask students, they just didn’t want to go to Six Flags, is what they would tell me.”
As of right now, nothing is being done to replace the Grad Nite event, or fill in some sort of celebration for seniors post-graduation. “Grad Nite is such a specific event that happens at certain amusement parks where they have an actual ‘Grad Nite Experience’,” Franco said. “There wouldn’t be another ‘Grad Nite’ quote unquote. We’re trying to have different events. We have senior ice skating. I know we have a senior sunset happening in May, things like that. But a ‘Grad Nite’ in the traditional sense, no.”
Understanding Grad Nite’s cancellation is one thing, and it’s very simple, but the question remains: why? Why didn’t enough seniors purchase their Grad Nite ticket?
“Maybe they don’t want to go to Grad Nite. Some students have a lot of social anxiety and they don’t want to go,” Psychiatric Social Worker Melissa Cerda said. “So there’s mental health related reasons too right? Maybe parents don’t want students to go to Six Flags, maybe they don’t feel like there’s going to be supervision, there’s like so much we can assume.”
It is possible that mental health factors could be in play, but Ms. Cerda also wondered whether or not Grad Nite was publicized enough amongst seniors.
“I’m just wondering how much this was publicized, besides just signs. Like, are we getting students to promote this?” Ms. Cerda asked. “Because, I can promote something all day, but it’s different when a student promotes it versus when an adult is promoting it.”
Anthony Vasquez • Jun 5, 2023 at 12:04 pm
It really sucked that they canceled the grand tie for seniors and hope they don’t do that next year
Melanie Duarte (Ms. Pena- Per.2) • May 31, 2023 at 9:49 pm
It was extremely disappointing when I heard that Grad-Nite was canceled. I do believe that, from the beginning, it was going to flop. When it was announced that grad nite was taking place at Six Flags, a lot of students were disappointed. From there, it was heard that not a lot of students wanted to attend grad nite. Once the ticket price was revealed, it gave several students another reason to not want to attend. The event itself was expensive and it isn’t a great shock that the event was not a success. Maybe it would’ve been a success if information about the event was hinted at earlier to give students enough time to save up and clear absences.
Leslie Cruz (Mrs. Peña Per. 4) • May 31, 2023 at 9:43 pm The Bell Chimes Pick
With this situation going on, I heard that most votes were for Grad Nite at Disneyland. Due to the amusement park was being overbooked, we didn’t get a spot and went with the second option, Six Flags. A lot of students were going to buy their ticket day of the due date so it didn’t make sense to cancel grad nite the day before. I know some students were saving up money to able to cover expenses, so they were disappointed to hear grad nite cancelled.
Kevin Avila • May 31, 2023 at 8:05 pm
The fact that Grad-Nite was canceled because not enough seniors purchased tickets is unfortunate for the seniors that actually bought tickets and that actually wanted to go. Reasons vary between every student including mental health, too expensive, and the fact that it would take place at Six Flags instead of Disneyland. I didn’t buy a ticket because I would have preferred going to Disneyland and the cost of all the senior activities would have been too expensive. When costs such as the yearbook, senior class pictures, and prom are added up, it becomes over $300 and it’s not easy to make that money. Overall, it is unfortunate that only 20% of tickets were sold, and there should be an alternate activity done for the seniors or at least the ones that were actually looking forward to attending Grad-Nite.
Kevin Avila
Mrs Pena
2nd Period
Brianna Vargas • May 31, 2023 at 3:03 pm
It does seem like it was a surprise that the majority of seniors didn´t buy their ticket for Grad Nite when, like Ms. Franco said, Grad Nite is ¨a specific event..where [we] have an ´actual Grad Nite Experience.¨ But I believe we didn´t treat Grad Nite as such a major experience/tradition that we had to immediately buy our ticket because of the effects of Covid-19. Covid-19 made us have our entire sophomore year on zoom within our homes. We didn´t have a normal ¨traditional¨ highschool experience and so we don´t view ¨traditional¨ events as same. Highschool didn´t feel like highschool and so Grad Nite didn´t really feel like Grad Nite to seniors.
– Brianna Vargas, Ms.Pena, P.2
Helen Hernandez • May 31, 2023 at 1:21 pm
It’s really unfortunate that the 2023 class will not be getting a senior trip to enjoy their final moments with their class. However, I do believe that a huge factor that contributed to the lack of sales is due to procrastination. After the pandemic, procrastination is a huge problem with students: they don’t manage it. I’ve noticed that before the pandemic, teachers weren’t as lenient with deadlines as they are now: teachers accept late work. This habit not only applies to classwork, but it applies to other things students need to tackle. So I do think students procrastinated when it came to purchasing tickets. Many students were disappointed to hear that Grad Nite would not be held at Disneyland, but this was a take-it-or-leave-it situation. Speaking for myself, I wanted to take advantage of grad nite, however, I never bought my ticket because I had other stuff going on such as hearing back from colleges, so it wasn’t a priority at the moment. The same was seen with Ice skating ticket sales: they started off very weak, but on the day of the event, ticket sales grew.
nicholas martinez (mrs pena period 4) • May 31, 2023 at 12:25 pm
This is really sad, as a part of the graduating class of 2023, I think that we should have been more involved so we can have more events
Willie Guevara • May 31, 2023 at 11:40 am
(Pena Azucena, Period 3)
Hearing about the cancellation of Grad Nite was astonishing for various reasons. Being a senior Grad Nite was a very prominent highlight of the senior experience, and I personally was looking forward to the thrills and chills of six flags. Unexpectedly hearing that it was canceled was more than a huge bummer for me as that night was supposed to be a special one. Unknowing of the reasons the build-up of these events from peers, teachers, and past students died and became an old memory. Now reading this story I come to understand the reasoning and my attention back to this matter. I come to understand the nuances behind events like these, why it was canceled, and how we as students and a school can do better in hosting these events.
Yumiko Hayashi (Mrs. Pena-Per 3) • May 31, 2023 at 11:05 am
It’s disappointing as a senior that we had such a significant event canceled. Personally I think it was many different factors such as the location, the absence policies, and money. Especially since the class of 2023 didn’t spend much time out of home due to the pandemic, it would have been nice to create more memories during our high school years. Nonetheless, I hope that future classes have better luck with their senior activities!
Destiny Cervantes • May 31, 2023 at 9:32 am
I could understand why the tickets for grad night didn’t sell. Most students would prefer to go to Disneyland than Six Flags. The school should have done a vote on Six Flags to see if the seniors would be interested on going on the trip. I feel bad for the students who wanted to go but also the ones who didn’t. Class of 2023 didn’t even get to experience high school due to covid, and now hearing that grand night is canceled is horrible. I can not imagine how some of the seniors might be feeling by not having a grad night.
Destiny Cervantes
Mrs. Vargas
Period 1
Adamari Ibarra (Ms.Vargas Per.4) • May 30, 2023 at 10:28 pm
It’s sad that the class 2023 won’t be going or experiencing grad night after they spent their beginning high school years in Zoom. Although it’s all up to the students whether they want to go and they all have their own reason not to want to. But I want to hear more about the students that did really want to go and bought tickets and hear how they felt about grad night being canceled. Personally, I would be excited to go even if it was Six Flags because I always hear stories about how fun grad night is and something you’ll always remember as a senior.
arianna • May 30, 2023 at 7:31 pm
There were many reasons why grad nite was canceled, including money-wise, no interest in going, and not enough tickets being sold. I believe there are other reasons why seniors didn’t take an interest in going. For example the location, Disneyland is the “ideal” place for grad nite in many schools. Another reason could have been that their friends weren’t going, so they thought there was no point in going alone. I also do agree that it’s different when a teacher or staff promotes an event, compared to a student doing so.
-arianna arriola, Ms. Vargas-Howard P.2
Pedro Andrade • May 30, 2023 at 5:12 pm
In my opinion, there should have been a survey beforehand to see how many students would be interested in Six Flags and how many would pay for the tickets. In doing this survey, they could have come up with a different location that more seniors would have tried to go to. They also should have tried to promote the event more because for many seniors, Grad Nite is a memorable event because they can spend it with their friends.
Pedro Andrade
Mrs. Vargas
Period 1
daphnie mayorga • May 30, 2023 at 4:05 pm
Hearing that Grad Nite was cancelled due to the lack of tickets sold was actually a little shocking. For me everyone seemed excited to go but they also had complications such as not having enough money or not having time to clear their absences in time for it. To me it seemed like a fun idea but big roller coasters arent my thing so I simply made the decision not to go but others who bought tickets were a bit disappointed.
Ms. Pena
Period 3
Nathaniel Zabala • May 30, 2023 at 2:06 pm
My friends and I did not go to grad night because we could not get cleared, which is unfortunate. I think it was alright that grad night was canceled since from what I also heard not many people wanted to go. I wish, however, that they would’ve replaced the grad night event with another senior event so I could’ve hung out with my friends again.
Nathaniel Zabala Per.4 Mrs. Pena AP English Literature
Denisse Bobadilla (Ms. Peña - Per.6) • May 30, 2023 at 11:51 am
As a senior, I was so sad and upset that we couldn’t go to Six Flags. I had paid for my ticket a few days before they cancelled it since I had to clear my absences, but I tried to convince so many of my friends throughout that month to go but apparently, just as the article says, they either said they didn’t want to go and a few said it was too expensive. I have a season pass but i wanted the share the experience for the awesome thrills of the roller coasters with my friends. I love Six Flags with all my heart but the fact that so many people didn’t want to go truly saddened me. Grad Nite is supposed to be the grand and final night you can spend with many of your friends before your years of high school ends. Apparently many seniors didn’t think about that and preferred to just not go when they could have spent a;ll night with their friends hanging out, going on roller coasters and experiencing the thrill of them. I just wish that more people had actually wanted to go, maybe then we could of had an amazing Grad Nite with all of our friends as our years of being together finally comes to an end and we might never see some of those friends again.
Lizbeth Sanchez • May 30, 2023 at 9:20 am
I find it kind of sad that Grad nite didn’t happen for the seniors. I think they should of booked reservations at other places. This means we should try making reservations early on like at Disneyland, or universal you know places where students will prefer. I think that will make students more interested in going. As a junior right now, I hope this doesn’t happen again next year because its something you look forward to for a very long time.
edgar arias • May 30, 2023 at 8:49 am
I learned that the seniors aren’t into grad nite as they used to be. They did not even sell 20% of the tickets and this led to the event being cancelled. One of the main reasons was because they simply did not want to go. They also say anxiety played a main factor of the kid’s decision on grad nite.
Emmanuel • May 28, 2023 at 11:18 pm
Grad Nite is filled with memorable experiences that sadly the class of 23 will never experience. As for myself, Grad Nite always seemed like the experience of a lifetime, but Six Flags was a sure turn-off for myself and many others. An alternative may have been better. 20% of tickets sold is astounding as at least half of my friends planned to go. Maybe it may have been the best Grad Nite ever but I guess we’ll never know…
Emmanuel Borquez, Mrs. Peña, Period 5
Adan Betancourt - Ms. Peña - Period 2 • May 28, 2023 at 10:02 pm
The fact that Grad-Nite was cancelled because of not enough students purchasing tickets is a shame but a lesson to be learned. Ever since it was announced that it’d be Six Flags and not Disneyland there seemed to be a sense of cynicism about the event even from within the Senior Committee in Leadership. I think the most likely reason for students not wanting to go is the price and having to front that money only a few weeks before Prom tickets were being sold. That’s already more than $300 if someone planned on going to both events, even worse if they bought the yearbook.
Briana Garcia • May 28, 2023 at 3:32 pm
Me, personally, I wanted to go and I cant speak for every other senior, but Grad Nite was one of the most anticipated senior events among us students. None of us will really know the reason why seniors did not want to purchase their tickets. But from what I heard the reason most of them didn´t want to go is because it was at six flags. Mental health seems unlikely because, as I said, this was an anticipated event. In my opinion the event lacked promotion. Only some adults would promote. As a teenager, I would follow more about what another peer is doing than what the teacher is doing. Briana Garcia, Mrs.Pena, Period 3
Stephany Rodriguez (Ms. Pena/Per-4) • May 28, 2023 at 1:34 pm
As a senior, I didn’t purchase a grad nite ticket because the intense rides that characterize Six Flags aren’t to my enjoyment. Still, it is unfortunate that the event as a whole was cancelled for the few students that looked forward to attending. Hopefully next year it is possible for the Class of 2024!
reem khanafer • May 26, 2023 at 11:33 pm
It was upsetting hearing some of my senior friends come and tell me that they won’t be attending grad nite when they were very excited and talked about it non-stop. But I hope the seniors do end up getting something, because they do deserve something, just a last thing to celebrate their last high school memory.
ms. Jonnsan period 1 child dev
Valerie Rodriguez • May 26, 2023 at 1:14 pm
I was bummed out when I found out that grad nite got cancelled but I also did notice the lack of tickets bought. I know that some students weren’t interested in going to Six Flags because they wanted to go to Disneyland instead. I understand what Ms. Franco said, it is a traditional event that is done in high schools but nothing can really be done if no students buy tickets. I am glad that they have had little events here and there like the Ice skating or the Golf n Stuff that will happen. Maybe it needed to be promoted more but by the looks of seniors, I did notice that many did not really want Six Flags.
Valerie Rodriguez – Ms. Pena – Period 3
Yara Ghacham P.4 Mrs. Vargas • May 26, 2023 at 12:54 pm
As someone that comes to Bell High school everyday, I personally have not seen any posters around the school promoting grad night which I feel is unfair for the Class of 23 seniors because all the graduating classes before them got tot get a grad night and even if it wasn’t an amusement park, they could’ve asked the seniors what they would want to do instead but they just cancelled it all together.
Edwin Arzate • May 26, 2023 at 11:13 am
I learned that there are many reasons why seniors may not want to go to six flags for grad night. Some believe it was too expensive other were just simply not interested. Also I learned that barely 20% of the tickets were sold, which is not even close to half, so there was simply nothing that could be done to save this year’s grad night.
Ms. Vargas-Howard P.1
Matthew • May 26, 2023 at 10:44 am
That sucks that Grad Night isn’t working out how everybody thought it would
Hawraa Chahine, Mrs. Vargas - Period 2 • May 26, 2023 at 9:49 am
First of all, I’d like to start this out with how I think this is a well-written article. I agree with the idea that the students are probably not going due to the price of the tickets. I see that there are a lot of money problems among seniors and are working to get to the point where they are financially stable. Another reason there may be the failure of publicizing is because of the vacations many seniors are going on, and will not be able to make it. This is a common case for this summer, as many choose to visit their homeland/family over just a day of fun. My suggestion for next year if they still decide to do grad-nite is for the tickets to have a lower cost, this could be achieved by setting up fundraisers. Also, the tickets should be more advertised and the administrators of this could help come up with reasons why they should go. For example, this is a one-time chance only and a night to remember, since it celebrates and highlights the high school experience and graduation.
Matthew Ferrel • May 25, 2023 at 3:13 pm
It’s a shame that the senior class would never get their true grad nite experience. Perhaps it was the lack of advertising that led to the cancellation of grad-nite. I was never really engaged behind the idea since it was infrequent to see adverts for grad nite. I hope that the money possibly spent on grad nite plans will be used for something worthwhile. – Matthew Ferrel, Mrs. Peña, Period 3
Richard Sosa Colin • May 25, 2023 at 12:49 pm
I learned that a lot of kids did not want to go to Six Flags and some couldn’t pay for it. Some couldn’t celebrate their graduation at Six Flags because not a lot of tickets were sold. Only 20% of the 300 tickets were sold.
Richard Sosa Colin
Ms. Castillo Period 5