The winner of the ‘Rock My Grad Party’ Contest, sponsored by NextStudent, a leading Phoenix-based education funding company, actually is not a graduating senior, but is a junior who will graduate in 2008. Matthew Pierre, from Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe, AZ, who won a brand new laptop computer for his own use and $5,000 for his school’s grad night party, entered the contest in order to honor his senior friends and because he loves his school, he said. “Marcos is an awesome school,” he commented. NextStudent ran the Web-based contest throughout April and May as a means to promote higher education and its Scholarship Search Engine (http://www.nextstudent.com/scholarship_search/scholarship_search.asp) to Phoenix-area high schools. Pierre, a confessed technophile who hopes to study cyber security at college, was able to generate 2,551,580 hits on the “Rock My Grad Party” Web site; his number was more than double that of his nearest competitor. Pierre discovered the contest through a posting on his school’s MySpace page and thought it would be great to get involved. Upon hearing that Pierre won $5,000 for the graduation party, Gilbert and Linda Rodriquez, co-chairs of Marcos de Niza’s 2007 Grad Night Party, announced the prize money will be split between this year’s event and next year’s party, enabling Pierre next year to participate in the fruits of his labor. Marcos de Niza Grad Night Party The tradition of a parent-sponsored Marcos de Niza High School grad night party at Arizona State University’s Memorial Union goes back some 16 years to 1991. This year’s party began at 11 p.m., starting shortly after the May 24, 2007 graduation ceremony, and lasted until the wee hours of the morning, ending at approximately 5 a.m. Students only needed to pay a small entrance fee to participate, which entitled them to door prizes, food, nonalcoholic drinks, snacks, entertainment and other activities. Parents worked diligently over the course of the year to raise funds for the party, volunteering at concession stands at sporting events, sponsoring the annual poinsettia sale and working the Tempe Arts Festival, as the entrance fee covered only a portion of the overall expenses of the event. The party was a huge success, providing a fun-filled alcohol/drug-free environment that included casino games, a henna tattoo artist, a caricaturist, and such door prizes as iPods, PSPs and coupons for Frostys. Best Wishes to All 2007 Phoenix-Area Graduates NextStudent supports the outstanding accomplishments of the students at Marcos de Niza High School and other high school graduates. Best wishes go out to these and other Phoenix-area graduates, as they look forward to a safe, promising future. NextStudent believes that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and it is dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding simple. Learn more about Private Student Loans (http://www.nextstudent.com), Federal Student Loans, and Student Loan Consolidation (http://www.nextstudent.com/consolidation_loans/consolidation_loans.asp) at NextStudent.com.
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Jeff Mictabor
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