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Claremont COURIER/Friday, June 14, 2013 28

Alittle bling and a lot of fun werethe order of the evening when thematriculating class of El Roble In-

termediate School celebrated their annualEighth Grade Party on Wednesday night,

June 12.The party, which was organized by the schools Par-

ent Faculty Association, had a Hollywood theme. Stu-dents entered the auditorium via a red carpet and hadopportunities throughout the event, which ran from 6 to9:30 p.m., to don a costume and strike a pose for thecamera.

The theme was most evident in the darkened audito-rium, where disco lighting and songs by hitmakers likeNiki Minaj and Rhianna beckoned students to dance.The letters to the legendary Hollywood sign hung overthe stage, fairy lights and tinsel shone and the darkenedroom was aglow with star lanterns.

When the COURIER left the scene at 7:30 p.m.,however, no students had opted to take advantage ofthe dance floor. That explains why El Roble now seesoff its eighth graders, of which there are about 550 thisyear, with a full extravaganza.

PFA president Julie Pedroza explained that when itwas simply a dance, you had the awkward junior highphenomenon of the girls lined up on one side of theroom and the boys lined up on the other. Only a fewkids were prepared to cross the invisible demarcationline and ask a classmate to dance.

Now, the dance floor is only the beginning. Oncestudents went outside onto the El Roble grounds, theyfound a slew of other diversions, like an inflatableBoot Camp obstacle course, an inflatable HumanFoosball court, a test-your-strength hammer game anda face-painting station. The PFA worked all year rais-ing money and garnering donations in order to ensure afestive eighth grade send off.

As any parent of a young teen knows, growing kidshave nearly insatiable appetites. This was not a prob-lem, because there was food a-plenty, starting with aCarls Junior Truck providing burger and Chicken Starcombos.

One boys exclamation said it all: Dude, free food!This place is bomb.

Volunteers also dispensed popcorn, cupcakes, sodaand candy of every ilk. The DoubleTree hotel notablysent some 350 cookies for the youths.

Were going to sugar them up and send themhome, Ms. Pedroza laughed.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding the EighthGrade Party. The kids dont know until 10 days before

the event, when they receive an invitation at school,what the partys theme is.Its all a surprise, said one student, Amber Ayala.Of course, there are plenty of rumors about what the

shindig is like.

My brother said it was really fun when he was in8th grade, Ms. Pedrozas son, Nick Pedroza, said.

And the students know this is their last middleschool hurrah. On Thursday, they received their year-books and enjoyed their last few hours at El Roble thenwere turned loose for the summer, now considered in-coming freshmen. Most of the outgoing eighth graders

said they were ready for the change.It feels pretty great, said Nicks friend, TJ Carney.Im pretty happy about it, added Amber. Ive had

a pretty rough year.

El Roble 8th graders say goodbye with star-studded party

COURIER photos/Peter WeinbergerEl Roble Intermediate School definitely knows how to throw a party. And there was plenty of reason to cele-brate as the eighth graders officially ended their tenure at the school. Following a Hollywood theme, over 300students enjoyed everything from dancing, carnival games and, of course, plenty of food and treats. Here, stu-dents wait in front of the hamburger truck, clearly the most popular place at the event. But it was also a timefor friends to stop and chat about their year as they prepare for their next challenge in high school.

PANTHER PRIDE

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