Special events at school

LeLu-Day is a playday organized by the Student Council in August-September. The point is to have fun together and wish the 1st year students welcome to school. The 2nd and 3rd year students plan special program and competitions for the newcomers – as well as provide them with funny outfits!

In mid-February Finnish Senior Secondary 3rd year students celebrate their last official school day, prior to the beginning of their matriculation exams. This day is known as “Penkkarit”.
After their show in the imaginative fancy dresses of their choice at school, students parade through Lempäälä on the back of open trucks, driving in convoy, waving and throwing candy to passers by and spectators along the roadside. Each of the four classes has their own trucks decorated with slogans and pictures.

On the day after “Penkkarit”, the 2nd year students celebrate their new position as the “new seniors”.

This celebration takes the form of a formal ball/prom, and it is called “Vanhojen tanssit” – The dance of the old. The students have been practicing various dances since the beginning of the school year, and the day is definitely the highlight of the year for the 2nd year students. Boys are dressed in formal attire and girls wear full-length evening gowns or dresses. The day begins with a performance in the morning, continues with lunch and ends in a final performance in the evening, where parents and relatives are also invited.

Graduation ceremonies take place on the very last school day in late May or early June and around Independence Day in December. The school is full of parents with roses and cameras when the school seniors receive their white student caps and final certificates with due pomp and circumstance.