seniors

Senior Events

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

by Adison Poole

The sun is setting for seniors as the school year comes to a close.

To wrap up the seniors’ final week, clubs such as SCA have planned several fun events to celebrate the upcoming graduation.

“The next two weeks are going to be extremely busy,” senior Kayla Ramer said.

Over the course of the last two weeks of the school year, seniors will have the opportunity to participate in activities such as senior sunset, a class picnic and a spirit week just for seniors.

Seniors Alice Wilkinson and Olivia Smith pose in their favorite FNL themes

Photo by: Adison Poole

“Senior sunset is one of the newer ones,” SCA advisor Mr. Christopher Gazze said. “One of our senior class officers proposed that and it got approved a few years ago. It’s just kind of a cool hangout with a smaller group of people.”

Earlier in the year seniors participated in a senior sunrise. This was a day when seniors gathered in the gravel parking lot and were able to hangout with friends and watch the sunrise.

“We had a huge crowd for fall’s (event), so it would be cool it you guys could match that,” Mr. Gazze said.

Seniors also can take a walk through their old elementary school dressed in caps and gowns to visit old teachers and show off their graduation gear for the younger kids.

“I’m excited to see all my old teachers,” Ramer said. “I think it’s such a cute idea.”

At each of the scheduled events students can expect food and snacks provided and games such as spike ball and cornhole.

“I plan on playing spike ball the whole time,” senior Everett Redinger said.

Class picnics also provide students with one last opportunity to hang out before graduation. Students who ordered them receive their yearbooks right before, so it provides students with time to get them signed.

Seniors also had a chance to participate in a spirit week for their last week of school. The themes chosen were dress as your younger or older self-day, favorite FNL theme, dress as your favorite teacher and decision day.

“The themes made the week interesting,” senior Alice Wilkinson said. “I made sure to go all out since this is my last one ever.”

SCA plans events such as these to bring students together one last time and as a sort of send off to the graduating class.

“I think it’s good to hang out,” Ramer said. “It’s nice to all be together one last time.”

All About Senior Year 

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

by: Samarah Guy  

As they finish their high school careers, GS seniors are spending plenty of time celebrating and taking in their last year, while also preparing for life after high school.  

Seniors get to take part in memorable activities like “Senior Sunrise” and “Senior Sunset” along with painting their parking spots in the student lot.   

“Events like Senior Sunrise helped me bond with people I haven’t had the chance to spend time with while also helping me make my senior year as memorable as possible,” senior Alaysia Tarpley said. 

The Senior class pose as a group at the senior sunrise.

Photo courtesy: gslionssca of Instagram.

These parts of senior year make a big impact on students because it gives them the chance to spend time together before they all go their separate ways. These activities are rewarding for all the time, hard work and effort the seniors have put into school throughout the past four years.  

“I think the events get us in the mindset that we’re actually graduating, and we should make the most of the time we have left in high school; both academically and socially,” senior Ellie Swanson said.  

Although these activities can be fun and exciting, seniors must still focus on senior projects and preparing for life after high school.  

“I think it’s all about learning how to balance school, work and having fun outside of that,” Swanson said. “I’ve had a pretty heavy workload all four years of high school, but I’ve spent a little more time being social and found that it’s much needed.”  

Senior projects are a vital part of senior year as it’s a graduation requirement that takes a lot of time and effort throughout the year. Senior projects are independent because there is no class time for them, which helps the seniors learn good time management.  

Students also have to start looking into scholarships for college, joining the military or finding a pathway significant to them.  

“You need to research colleges and find what is best for you like courses for your major, what environment you want to be in and what scholarships you can get,” she said. 

This can be a hard year for some people because they don’t know what they want to do yet, but taking a gap year can always be in the picture.  

Taking a gap year can help relieve stress, and it gives students the chance to sit down and really understand what it is they want to do and how they’re going to do it. This time could also be a time to explore new places and new things outside of what one grew up around. 

“Preparing for life after high school is different for everybody, and there’s no right way to do it until you’re sure you know what you want to do,” senior Azzy Franklin said.  

Personal Learning Time 

Posted on by gshslionsdenadmin

by: Adison Poole  

GS is looking to revamp student schedules to encourage a more personal learning environment.  

This year Principal Mr. Adam Jones and Superintendent Dr. Ken Bissell have pushed for more freedom in student schedules. Personal Learning Time or PLT is a free block seniors can choose to take.  

If a student chooses to take PLT then the free block will fit into their schedule wherever there may be a gap. This year many seniors with gaps in their schedules filled the open space with PLT not even knowing what it really was.   

“I wasn’t really sure what it was initially, but I really like it now,” senior Everett Redinger said.  

The block can be used to the student’s liking and may be utilized in whatever way is most beneficial to the student. If that means leaving school, then the student will have that option or they can choose to stay and work in the library.   

Senior Riley Campbell sits in the Library to do homework during her PLT.

Photo by: Adison Poole

“As a senior, my conversation with Dr. Bissell was you’re a senior, you’re mature enough to leave,” Mr. Jones explained. “Why would I put you in a study hall when you don’t have to be?” 

PLT is an attempt to offer up more freedom to students throughout the school. The idea is that this will create an organized system while also allowing kids to make their own decisions.  

“It’s a flexible period showing you’re mature enough to do what you need to do; you do with it what you please,” Jones said.  

PLT can fall into a senior’s schedule wherever they may have a free block. Depending on when their PLT is, the student may have to leave and sign back in before the next class starts.  

“I’ve been staying in the building,” senior Kylie Kolenc said. “I feel like I won’t get anything done and it will just end up being wasted time.”  

While students have been encouraged to use the time wisely, it’s ultimately up to the kid to decide what’s best for them. The level of maturity was considered when deciding what grade levels would have PLT available for them to take.  

With the graduation requirements changing next year from 28 credits to 25.5 Jones was eager to test out this new schedule as a possibility for students to take for years to come.  

“I would recommend it to upcoming seniors,” Kolenc explained. “Not just as a blow off thing, but more along the lines of using that as time to do things you might not have time to do after school.”  

According to Jones, freedom is a “privilege” that can be taken away if used incorrectly or for inappropriate reasons. To be eligible for PLT, students must be passing classes and attending class regularly.   

“As it goes on, I think there will be a lot of kids working on their senior project, especially the second semester scramblers,” Jones laughed. “The conversation will be ‘oh don’t come crying to me if you have an hour and a half to work on it.’” 

While the choice is up to the student, there won’t be any excuses for late work from kids with PLT time. 

“I’m using it to work on college stuff and my senior project, as well as learning new instrument skills,” Kolenc said.  

Kolenc isn’t the only senior putting in work during PLT, Redinger also emphasized that he is using his time to focus on his senior project as well.  

“I like to stay sometimes and use it to talk to my advisor about my senior project,” Redinger said.  

Being the first year with such lenient requirements compared to past years, this year serves as a test run for future scheduling. Students will be required to be on school grounds for less hours and credit requirements change in under a year.  

Due to this, students and staff can expect a change in upcoming years and will see PLT as well as other forms of individualized learning being implemented throughout the school.  

“We’re one foot in with the PLT for next year, but we’re still under the schedule of last year,” Jones said. “We’re just trying to get to next year where everything is weeded out. It’s like the appetizer and I hope everyone understands.”