Established in 1993, Project Graduation has been a staple of the Eastern experience.

  On the night of graduation, outgoing seniors are invited to return to the school, from where they are bussed off to a massive graduation party. The whole idea is to provide a safe, drug- and alcohol-free environment where graduates can spend one last night together as a class.

  In years past, the event had been held at Dave and Buster’s in Philadelphia, and at the Funplex in Mount Laurel for the past two years.

  All of this changed when the Board of Education moved up the date of graduation from Tuesday June 19 to Friday June 15. As a result, Project Graduation was forced to change the booking to June 15, graduation day.

  At this point, an issue arose — the Funplex already had another school renting their facilities the night of June 15.

  Now, there were two options: Project Graduation could either retain its previous date, or the Project Graduation Committee would have to find a new location, quickly.

  The committee ultimately elected to take the latter route. After weeks of searching, the committee reached out to the Ray and Joan Kroc Center in Camden, a community center operated by the Salvation Army.

  “Mr. Tull recommended the Kroc Center,” said Michelle Bonomo, President of the Parent Committee for Project Graduation, “We had our swim meets there a few years ago.”

  The Kroc Center was opened three years ago, with much of its funding coming from the estate of Joan Kroc, the wife of Ray Kroc, the founder of the McDonald’s Corporation.

  The location features a great deal of amenities that the Project Graduation party plans on utilizing. One area is a black box theatre or “dark room.” When surveying the venue, a number of different LED infused games were proposed to be based in this locations.

  Two other rooms will mark a first for Project Graduation: swimming. The Kroc Center contains two separate swimming areas. One is a half-olympic-sized pool, and the other is a more recreational swimming area. This portion encompasses a jacuzzis, water slides, and a lazy river that flows around the entire area. Unlike at the Funplex, where seniors were not allowed to use the swimming facilities, the Kroc Center will allow for seniors to change in order to swim.

  Elsewhere, the Kroc center has a rock climbing area that attendees will be able to take advantage of, in addition to outdoor basketball court facilities. Weather permitting, the attendees will be able to play freely on these fenced-in courts.

  Back inside, Project Graduation will also be taking over the full-sized gymnasium at the Kroc Center. Here, in addition to sporting general gym-style activities, the organization will be bringing in a number of different inflatable items, like slides and other air-filled structures to be employed by participants.

   Like the Funplex and Dave and Busters, The Kroc Center will be providing continuous food that will be available to those attending, but unlike the Funplex, The Kroc Center does not provide entertainment in addition to what is already included in their facilities. As with when Project Graduation was located at Dave and Buster’s, a private entertainment company will be brought in as a supplement to the site.

  Project Graduation is hiring out Party King Entertainment, an entertainment company based out of Fairfield, NJ. The company will be providing the inflatable services, as well as a great deal of other activities around the location.

  With this added expense, the Project Graduation Committee has been attempting to negotiate the cost of the event down. “The Funplex was $72.95 per child,” said Mrs. Bonomo, “and the Kroc Center is currently $65 each.

  [The Kroc Center Representatives] are trying to get the price down to $60,” she said.

 In order to offset the cost of admission and prevent students from paying more than the initial $10 fee, Project Graduation hosts its major fundraiser, the Eastern High School Craft Show each December. “Each year,” said Bonomo, “we’ve netted over $20,000.”

  Ultimately, Project Graduation appears to be in order for this school year, despite initial concerns amid schedule changes.

  “I want people to know that these changes are not related to any issues that may have occurred last year,” Mrs. Bonomo said.