Hats Off to the 2008 Floyd High Graduates
While at the high school this past Sunday taking photos of the graduation for the local paper, I found my friend Crystal in the crowd of celebrating graduates. Crystal is the daughter of a family who works for the same agency I did, providing foster care for adults with disabilities. We used to dance together when she was young and we were both attending dances hosted by the agency that also organizes Special Olympics in our area.
I graduated from high school before gowns were made of polyester and before graduating seniors began decorating their caps, which I wasn’t aware that anyone did until my son decorated his for his 1997 high school graduation. I wasn’t able to learn from a google search how and when the cap decorating phenomena began, but I did learn that the flat square part of the cap is called the mortarboard, and I was able to find some good photos of some uniquely decorated ones, like THIS one done in Lego’s. If I was graduating today THIS is the tasteful understatement I would go for, or maybe THIS. But I don’t think I could pull THIS off.
Post note: You can read about the graduation in the Floyd Press HERE.
May 28th, 2008 5:50 am
quite the look!!
May 28th, 2008 8:02 am
I don’t think I’ve ever seen decorated mortarboards before…
May 28th, 2008 8:18 am
I didn’t know they were doing that nowadays…interesting!!
May 28th, 2008 10:24 am
I’ve never seen that done. I only know that when I graduated from University a few years ago we were all warned, warned, warned that there was to be no throwing of the caps into the air. I thought that was the moment we were all waiting for… I love the style of that cap!
By the way, I’ve tagged you for a meme, though you may have already done it.
May 28th, 2008 12:30 pm
Hurray for Chrystal! What a wonderful launch into adulthood. I always had to return the cap – too broke to decorate it – but I wanted to… OH, I so wanted too! 🙂
Hey, I realized that no one knows about book marketing now, so I’m inviting people to share what worked for them. I wonder if you would mind reposting my call for entry? And, of course, participating!
May 28th, 2008 12:45 pm
I kept wanting to see everyone throw their hats. Is that only in the movies?
I think my son Josh had to give his rented hat back too. I wonder how he cleaned it up. At his graduation at UNC Asheville he was the only one I saw with a decorated cap. It had posts coming out from the corners with cut out clouds tapped to the top of them. I’ll have to see if I can dig up a photo.
May 28th, 2008 6:08 pm
Great pictures………and I think you could pull the last hat decoration off. ox
May 28th, 2008 6:18 pm
Yeah, pull it off and wrestle it to the ground!
Do they decorate their caps in Mass?
May 28th, 2008 8:59 pm
ooh, I love that lego decor. I WISH I’d thought of that… Lots of people decorated their hats at my college graduation. It’s a great way to stand out! Friends and families are looking at the back of hundreds of graduate’s heads. It’s easier for one to say “Ma, I’ll be the one with the giant goose on the top of my head!”
May 29th, 2008 5:04 pm
I never heard or saw them decorating hats in Mass.
Also when Joe graduated in 2004 they threw their hats up in the air. It was awesome. xo
May 30th, 2008 3:15 pm
We saw some very clever ones at my niece’s graduation, too. One gentleman, graduating with a degree in criminal justice and anxious to join the State Police force, had a working, flashing siren on his mortar board. He turned it on just after they called his name and marched proudly to the tune of his own music across the stage. Was awesome.