Tag: graduation

Quick Tip: Intentionality at Grad Parties

June 2, 2025June 1, 2025by Nick ManceLeave a comment

If you’re like me, graduation season is in full swing and graduation parties are popping up every weekend. But have you ever asked yourself, “why do I go to these?”

I know I’ve been to ones where I only knew the graduate and their family, and in some cases just the graduate. I’ve been to ones that felt awkward for a variety of reasons. And still others where I stayed for hours on end.

But still, the question of “why do I go” hasn’t been answered. So why do we go? Of course we go for the graduate and to celebrate them, but that cannot be the only reason.

Let’s be honest for a moment: while the graduate may be happy to see us, their focus will be on their friends and family. So if we limit our reason to going to simply to celebrate the graduate (and eat good food), I think we are missing a broader opportunity.

When we practice intentionality at graduation parties, it allows us to have a broader impact as we love and care for our community. If we simply go to just celebrate our graduates, we miss out on intentional moments with parents, families, friends, our leaders, and even complete strangers we may meet in line for the guestbook.

What I would encourage is that we go to celebrate our graduates but also to intentionally engage and invest in the other people who are at the party. If we take the moments we are given and seek to have intentional conversations, love the people present, and celebrate the graduates, we will see the opportunities for engaging with our community flourish and be much more fruitful.

So when you go to grad parties this year, practice intentionality and love your community well. Not only will this make the parties more meaningful but you will also see relationships flourish because of the impact your ministry will have.

Quick Tip: Gift Bags for Seniors

April 21, 2025April 20, 2025by Nick ManceLeave a comment

Are you stressing trying to find a gift for your graduating seniors? Have you ever felt the tension that simply gifting a book isn’t enough? Have your gifts seemingly fell flat before?

Believe me, I’ve been there. I’ve always wanted to be intentional with the gifts we give and I never want our graduates to feel like the gift they are given are an afterthought. Over the years we have been able to rethink and refresh our gifts for seniors and we have found that a thoughtful and fun gift bag is the way to go.

Here’s what we do. We purchase them a book; we add in fun candy; and we get little confetti poppers, glow stick bracelets, a couple of different fidgets, multiple cards, and other fun items like graduation capped rubber ducks. Now here’s the thing: no one thing makes this bag special, but all of these items together make this gift remarkable and personal for our students.

When we give them their gift bag it isn’t a simple “here’s your graduation gift,” but an intentional moment of explaining the “why” behind each item. We explain why we got them the book and its purpose. We highlight the different cards in their bags: one is from our ministry, one is from our church staff, and the final one is a letter of commissioning and promise that is on our church letterhead. We talk about the different fun gifts and how graduation is a celebratory moment and deserving of fun.

The purpose of these gift bags is to show the intentionality, relational rapport, care, and commissioning of our seniors. That means that our gift bags change a little each year as each of our senior classes are unique and different. What doesn’t change is the reality that these gift bags are special and help make this a memorable moment for each of our graduates.

I will also say this: making gift bags can and will vary from ministry to ministry. Each ministry’s budget will dictate what can go into these bags but it doesn’t dictate the thought. Dollar stores, Amazon, and personal touches can help make these gifts fun and intentional. So don’t be hindered by your budget; instead embrace it and lean into making the most of it as you take intentional steps with the gift bags.

Making Graduation Season Special

June 3, 2024June 2, 2024by Nick ManceLeave a comment

It’s here! The time of year when we commission our graduates, celebrate their achievements, shed some tears as they move on, and reflect on all the memories we have made together. But with these moments come multiple opportunities to invest in, encourage, and champion them as they move into the next phase of their life journey.

There are commencement ceremonies, parties galore, senior parades, and more. Depending on your context and the structure of your ministry, you may be invited to numerous gatherings and events, and that begs a question: how do you make these moments special? Depending on your context you may be invited to a graduation ceremony with multiple students but perhaps you don’t have a budget to get them all a gift. Or maybe you’re invited by a specific family to a graduation, so do you bring them a gift…but what about the other students you know who are graduating?

In order to make the most of this special season, I want to offer a few suggestions for you to consider that will allow you to bless all of your students in a meaningful and personal way. These will specifically be cost-sensitive and will focus on ideas and engagements that will have intentional impact.

Be intentionally relational.

This may sound like a no-brainer, but sometimes it can be hard to engage with people relationally. Maybe it’s a student who just never had anything nice to say. Perhaps it’s a parent who spread rumors about you or one you never met. Or maybe you’re just feeling wiped out from talking to everyone and what’s the big deal with not talking to that family, that parent, or that student?

These moments are opportunities for you to continue to show that your students matter and that you are in their corner. Yes, it may take more time and energy, and yes, you may need to humble yourself in these moments. But I can promise you that if you engage relationally during this season you will see wonderful results as your students continue to grow.

Bring a personalized card.

We have quite a few students graduate each year and it honestly would cost a lot of money if we got each of them a gift, even a small one. So our ministry does gifts for each graduate at our senior commissioning, but Elise and I write out a personal card for each of them that we decorate and make unique. Sharing some memories, writing a personal encouragement, sharing a specific prayer, or even just letting them know how you’ve seen them grow makes the letter intentional and personal instead of a standard card. When you can do something as personal as a handwritten card it shows your students how much they mean to you and how you have seen them grow during their time in your ministry.

Show up when invited.

Our church is a regional church which means we have four or more public high schools, three Christian schools, and cyber learning or homeschooled students represented in our program. Most of our area schools only give out a certain amount of graduation tickets to students, so we don’t always get to attend commencement ceremonies. But when we do, we show up and try to connect with all of our students and families who are present. The same goes for graduation parties. Sometimes we get invited and sometimes we don’t. But when we get the invitation we do our best to attend and connect with our student and their family. These are intentional moments and they communicate love and care for your students.

Don’t be rushed.

I don’t know about you but sometimes I can feel a little pressed for time. There are moments when rushing is appropriate, but in moments when you are connecting with and celebrating your graduates, you need to slow down and be present. That means don’t relegate yourself to only a short time frame. Instead keep your schedule open so you can spend the appropriate amount of time at each special moment.

Continue to be present.

Some of our students experience a fear of the unknown and a fear of leaving behind something they love. In releasing and commissioning our students, one of the things we can continue to do is be present for them. Let them know that you will still be around and that they can still reach out to you. There will be changes, like they are no longer in youth group, but let them know that your love and commitment to them will not change. Continue to follow up with them, grab coffee or visit with them, host a Bible study for graduates, connect them with your college ministry, and utilize other ways to connect during the summer months. These moments help students know that they still matter and that you, and your church, are for them.