Commencement's over, "I'm An Adult Now" is blaring out of the radio, and the high school grad has only one thing on his mind - "PAAR-ty. PAAR-ty. PAAR-ty."
In years past, that chant echoed like a war cry across the Salt Lake Valley and through the canyons, striking terror into the hearts of parents and mustering the forces of law.But this year, thousands of graduates have found a way to party without driving their parents mad, police up a wall or themselves into an early grave. They've discovered the "No-D's grad-bash" - no-drink, no-drug, no-drive high school graduation parties in a safe, supervised and - by their own accounts - fun environment.
A growing trend nationwide, these student-organized and adult-sponsored events have also become the parties of choice for most high school graduates along the Wasatch Front.
"I loved it," said Angie Horman, an Alta High School graduate who partied until 4 a.m. Friday at the Pepperwood recreation center. "The band and the dancing was great."
Horman said it was especially important to be together with friends knowing that no one was going to be hurt from drinking and driving. "We felt safer, and we were together saying our goodbyes."
Greg Hansen, senior class president, added, "We made up for the graduation. We hadn't had a chance to talk or congratulate each other or hug or whatever." The lightning strike that interrupted Alta's commencement was the big topic of conversation, he said.
In its 12th year, the graduation party sponsored by the Pepperwood Homeowners Association is the biggest in Utah. This year, it provided a night of dancing, swimming, games and a 300-tier tower of pizzas to about 1,800 Alta High students.
Burke Riche, an East High School graduate who joined his classmates for an exclusive all-nighter at the Sports Park last Friday, said adult supervision and sponsorship don't dampen the party spirit.
"I'm sure some people would prefer to have less supervision, but I'd rather have my friends around 20 years from now ratherthan have them killed on graduation night," Riche said.
Moreover, it was a lot of fun, he said. "We had the Sports Park all to ourselves all night, all the rides, the batting cages and the rest of it."
The rest of it included music, dancing and all the hamburgers and chicken a grad could want, said Nina Taylor, an East High PTA leader who helped put together the East High event. Taylor, whose son attended the event, said, "It's a safe alternative to having the kids out driving and partying with alcohol and drugs."
That's exactly what law enforcement agencies like about the new-age graduation parties, said Salt Lake County sheriff's spokesman Rod Norton.
"Kids will celebrate when they graduate, and any time you have controlled celebrations like this, we're all for it," Norton said. "From our perspective, they're great. The kids have fun, they're not on the streets or in the canyons, and they're not drinking and getting into trouble."
Danny Talbot, director of high school services for the Granite School District, said the schools and school districts are not directly involved in the parties.
"They are are run by parents and parent groups along with business sponsors," he said. "They were suggested some years ago by the national PTA as a way to give the graduates a safe way to party."
When Skyline High parents launched their first graduation party three years ago, graduates practically had to be dragged to the event, said Mary Rasmussen, president of the school's PTA. "Now, the kids look forward to it. They want to come."
About 400 tickets have been sold for the Skyline party, which will be held in the Sports Mall, with merchants chipping in prizes, food and entertainment.
Melanie Armstrong, who will be graduating from Brighton High and partying with classmates at the Cottonwood Recreation Center, says, "It's pretty much the big thing to do here, especially for those of us too lazy to plan something else."
The parties require community support, money and a lot of planning, according to organizers.
Alta's party, for example, was put together and run by a team of three chairmen, 12 committees and about 150 volunteers. Beginning about 10 p.m. Thursday, the volunteers began directing the first of about 500 cars to parking places in the gated residential community of Pepperwood in Sandy.
For the next six hours, high school students had the run of the place, swimming, playing games, dancing and eating, eating, eating. Domino's Pizza delivered 300 pies through the morning hours - about 50 every 30 minutes.
The party is primarily for Alta High School graduates, but Jordan School District's fear of liability prevents organizers from billing it as such. One poster on the community bulletin board is the only formal notice of the "Pepperwood Graduation Party" on the Alta campus.
"We like to see the kids off the streets, we just can't be sponsoring these activities," said Tom Owen, assistant superintendent for the Jordan School District.
Citing court cases where schools have been held liable for accidents that occurred when a student was en route to a non-school sponsored event, Owen said, "If we get involved in it in any way . . . if we advertise it or promote it or announce it over our intercom, then the school assumes all responsibility for students traveling to or from that event."
Organizers are forced to work a lot harder in the absence of school district involvement.
"It's been a real frustration for me, because we want to be able to communicate with the parents," said Kathy Bradley, who's been involved since the party's second anniversary, one year after 35 kids first got together for orange juice and sweet rolls after graduating.
Pepperwood parents met with district officials early on, trying to get approval to coordinate with the school about publicity and Alta parent involvement, but soon gave up, she said. "It's come to the point where we just do it ourselves," Bradley said.
In Davis County, parent-organized parties generally are held at the schools themselves. Davis High, however, is holding its function at Weber State University.
All of the parties along the Wasatch Front abide by the no-alcohol, no-drugs rule, and most enforce a rule requiring graduates to stay on the premises.
Skyline's Karma Ward said participants sign in at the start. If they sign out early, chaperones notify their parents, she said. But that doesn't happen very often.
"It's just the opposite," Ward said. "They don't want to leave. It's 4 a.m. and they have to go because the Sports Mall is opening up, but the kids don't want to go."
Deseret News staff writer Alan Edwards contributed to this report.