PHOTOS: Glen Rock Grad Ball 2012 Wows

Graduating seniors had quite a send-off on Thursday night, thanks to a Grad Ball for the ages.

Virtually the mobilized into the high school gymnasium where they felt more than at home, especially given this year's theme. From station to station, grads saw familiar images – Jersey Shore, Glee, Cash Cab, Cupcake Wars, Survivor, Wheel of Fortune, Sportscenter and more.

"It's such a thrill to do something for them on the last night they're all together," said art and design co-chair Ellen Dowling. "There's really something here for everyone."

The reality TV ideas weren't the only options kicked around – organizers said they'd considered a Mexican adventure and blast-from-the-past Back to the Future theme before concluding the Must See TV bit would be green-lighted.

Entertainment chair Laura Spada took Patch on a tour a few hours before the kids arrived and was often interrupted by excited parents and siblings saying, "Oh my god, I love this."

Set beside a Shore-styled seating lounge complete with a hot tub, GRHS gym teachers were tasked to serve smoothies at famed Jersey Shore bar Karma, Spada explained. Large plasma TVs looped photos of 400+ glorious moments the new grads had together in the halls of the Harristown Rd. school. Original video productions added to the considerable reminiscing for departing seniors.

In another corner, students played X-Box Connect games at the Panther-themed ESPN Sportscenter while others ventured to play a Glen Rock trivia version of Cash Cab (in the cab, of course, with Glen Rock dads manning the wheel and a video of every corner of Glen Rock behind them).

Henna tattoos were in popular demand at "Glen Rock Ink," where teachers' faces were superimposed onto heavily tatted bodies; and laughs were in high supply with the karaoke corner for "The Voice." Students could head to the wardrobe closet green screen where a photographer shot candids and would superimpose the 2012 GRHSers onto cast members from the various television shows.

Wheel of Fortune featured...you guessed it, fortune tellers; a caricaturist was nearby to capture the last night; and if they were feeling hungry, grads could grab a meal from the food truck or head over to the "Cupcake Wars" corner, where they were fed cupcakes featuring their faces. A final "Survivor" challenge awarded the grads immunity from the island, with a medallion of their baby photos.

A DJ and MC spun the music world's latest, hottest tracks as students hit the deck and danced the night away.

"This sort of event really brings people back together," art and design co-chair Eileen Kellerman remarked, adding that some parents haven't seen each other since their time at the pre-k co-ops and are reunited.

"It's just a really, great, cool night. If we didn't hold this there would be three parties and other kids would be at home with grandma."

Attendance was at 99 percent, organizers said.

It's Kellerman's third and final Grad Ball, and according to her, the hardest. There's some good-natured pressure to put on a good show, she joked, and the kids can feel it to.

More than half of the senior parents volunteer in some capacity, she said, whether it be in fundraising or helping with design and construction. Most materials are recycled from past Grad Balls, helping keep costs down. Thanks to the volunteers, labor costs are zilch.

It's months of hard work for the senior parents, but it all pays off in the end.

"You finally see the box turn into reality," Dowling said. "It truly is amazing." 

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