By: Emma Helmick 

A group of seniors rushed to get their binders in preparation to graduate early. 

Most of the students graduating early presented their projects on Jan. 29. This day was delayed because of snow days. 

“The biggest challenge was trying to do everything in a timely manner,” GS graduate Wynter Scarpa said. “With limited time to complete my senior project, I had to navigate to get everything done timely while also efficiently.” 

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A list of senior requirements in the senior project binder.

Photo By: Emma Helmick

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Most students who were planning to finish early attempted to get their projects approved in the summer to make their deadline more manageable. 

“To graduate early, students would have to prepare in their junior year, so we would be scheduling accordingly,” Guidance Counselor Mrs. Laura Klipa said. 

There were originally around 11 students planning to finish early, but only eight ending up following through. 

“I think graduating early can be beneficial if someone already has a very clear idea of what they want to do,” History teacher Mrs. Beth Simone said. “I mean one of my seniors actually had to miss the last couple days of our semester because his college classes started.” 

Students who have graduated early are still able to attend prom, but can no longer be part of school sports. 

“I decided to graduate early to get ahead in my college career and to get into my Nursing career quicker,” GS graduate Brandon Fazio said.  

Although starting college early could be beneficial, it is not the only reason for leaving high school before everyone else. 

“Now that I have graduated early I can begin working full-time to save for a car, housing and other future expenses,” Scarpa said. 

Graduating early can give students opportunities to start working and saving or even get a jump start at furthering their education before the rest of their peers. 

“The high school curriculum wasn’t challenging for me anymore and I wanted to expand my knowledge since I have already reached the highest classes you can reach in our school,” Fazio said.