As the school year approaches its last months, the class of 2012 attends the last Senior Assembly on May 24, in the Viking gymnasium.
“The assembly pretty much marked the end of our senior year,” graduating Robert Guerrero said. “It summed up the things we need to do in order to end the year on a good note.”
Led by class president David Saenz, the assembly began with the senior activities that will be composed of a pool party and cosmic bowling. These gatherings cost $25 and the price will increase by $5 after June 8. The graduating class then showed their enthusiasm and excitement about the events that await them in the last few days of their high school experience, especially since these will occur while the undergraduates are taking their finals. Unfortunately, the end of the school year activities are not a possibility for all twelfth graders; the crowd booed at Mr. Zegarra’s reminder that all absences must be cleared.
“The senior activities are pretty decent and not too outrageous,” senior Elisha Adeagbo said. “They are something everyone can be involved in, and it only makes sense that absences must be cleared. Students should not be able to get away from an unexcused absence.”
The highlight of the whole rally, however, was the talk regarding graduation. Due to the large number of graduating students—the largest class by far—every senior received five tickets. These were available from the Annex starting May 31 to those who were cleared from the senior fail list. The north side of the gymnasium, though, was in awe at the number of students who are on the senior fail list as Ms. Lucke, the vice principal, announced that one in every four students are on the detested record.
“At first I was surprised when Ms. Lucke said 25% of the seniors are on the list,” senior Yanel Arciga said, “although, I did hear from other students that their teachers put all of their students on the list.”
Hope is still in store for the class of 2012 since one ticket will be handed to every attendee of the Baccalaureate on June 10. Extra tickets will also be on sale for $5 each. But to those who plan on bringing a large group, two separate suites—which can each hold fifteen people—will be auctioned off beginning on June 11.
“Getting only five tickets might become a problem for those who want to bring their whole family and bidding for a suite might be a logical choice,” Adeagbo said, “but to those who just want to bring their immediate family then I think five tickets will be sufficient.”
The highly anticipated day for over 900 students is graduation on June 21 at the Allen Layne Stadium. As if this day isn’t grand enough, there will also be the traditional graduation breakfast before the practice, and for the first time ever, Grad Nite for the Vikings will be at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Several students, like Arciga, are taken back at how close the special day is.
“Everything is just coming so quickly,” Arciga said. “It’s very exciting thinking about how close graduation is, but at the same time it’s hard to believe that it’s here.”
Four years have gone by, and although the thought of graduation is thrilling for many seniors, this assembly—especially Mr. Houts’ “Don’t be Stupid Speech”—informed them to be cautious of their actions. In two weeks, all the hard work put into high school will come to an end and all the Saturday schools and tardy sweeps will be put to their conclusion. As the students exited the gymnasium, energy flowed from the seniors since the assembly not only reminded them to be watchful, but it also reminded them of their achievements as individuals.
