Inter'linc Encourages High-School Seniors With The Release Of ConGRADulations! Class Of 2005
Youth-oriented ministry, interl’inc, announces the release of ConGRADulations! Class of 2005, a special interactive CD featuring the music and wisdom of today’s top Christian artists designed to help keep this year’s graduates “going in the right direction.” The CD includes songs, music videos, and motivation and encouragement from artists such as Relient K, Steven Curtis Chapman, tobyMac, Audio Adrenaline, Pillar, Building 429, and GRITS.
“What excites me about the project,” said interl’inc President and Founder Allen Weed, “is that the best artists of the day are collaborating to get a message of hope to this year’s graduating seniors. These musicians truly care about young people, and want to do whatever they can to help get them going in the right direction.”
“Today’s teens listen to three or more hours of music per day,” Weed continued. “This is a graduation gift that will be used, and will keep on giving, as this CD will help seniors plug more deeply into their faith, and find purpose and meaning in life.”
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While the artists make up a large part of ConGRADulations! Class of 2005, the project is much more than a music CD, as it features video testimonies from graduating seniors around the country, an interactive scrapbook where students can journal and store personal photos and mementos, the “33 Days of Direction” online devotional journal, and a year-in-review video of important events that happened during the 2004-2005 school year. This year’s graduating class can look back at this archived online footage and re-live the November 2004 re-election of President George W. Bush, the devastating Southeast Asia tsunami, the 2005 Super Bowl, and more.
Also included on the CD project is the complete New Testament and Psalms and Proverbs. A hard copy of either The Message Remix Bible or the new Student NIV Bible are available to order in conjunction with the CD, discounted together in the “Grad Pack.”
A veteran contributor to the project, artist tobyMac encourages graduates to “lace up your shox…you’re gonna set a new pace.” He appreciates the chance to continue to be involved in the ConGRADulations! project. “Many of the decisions we make during this time directly affect and shape us far into the future,” tobyMac said. “With all the messages and voices that are competing for the minds of the next generation, I am excited to be a part of something like this."
Some of those “messages and voices” are taking their toll on many in this year’s graduating class, as USA Today reported that “senioritis” has reached epidemic proportions in high schools across the nation. This year’s ConGRADulations! Class of 2005 CD is poised to provide an immediate cure for teens with only one or two months left to go in the school year.
“Whether seniors are not focusing because they are reflecting or they are looking ahead, we’ve got the cure for what ails them,” Weed added. His company, interl’inc, serves as a resource to youth ministers around the country, providing tools and insight into the teen psyche. A component of the ConGRADulations! 2005 CD website, www.grad2005.com, focuses on senioritis – the signs, symptoms, and suggestions for treatment.
“It usually happens sometime just after Christmas,” the website relates. “You notice it first in the eyes. There is an unmistakable dullness of the eyes, a reluctance to initiate or maintain eye contact, and a general downcast direction to their vision.” But the site goes beyond the prognosis to offer both preventive medicine and emergency room procedures for reaching those seniors that have “mentally checked out.”
“In support of what youth leaders around the country are doing to encourage seniors to stay involved and committed – in both their schools and their churches –- the ConGRADulations CD gives seniors a much-needed boost in their morale,” Weed said. “With songs like ‘Forward Motion,’ and ‘Going in the Right Direction,’ we encourage them to keep moving. And with songs like Steven Curtis Chapman’s ‘I Believe in You,’ we tell them we know they can succeed.”
According to Chapman – who wrote “I Believe in You” for his own daughter two years ago -- this ConGRADulations! CD reaches students at an important time in their lives. “They are asking some really tough questions as they leave home and look into the future, and maybe wondering ‘Can I really do this? Can I make it on my own?’” he said. “I hope I Believe In You will be a great encouragement and reminder to them that there’s a God in heaven and people in their lives that love and believe in them, and that they can do it.”
The ConGRADulations! Class of 2005 project is available online at www.grad2005.com, or by calling interl’inc at 800-725-3300. Suggested retail for the CD and accompanying gift card is $11.95, with special bulk pricing for youthworkers and churches.
