Picnics, Prom, and Pranks

By Mila Ellis, Maddie Obertello, and Tselmeg Orgilmunkh, Print Editor-in-Chief, Print Managing Editor, and Head Section Editor and Business Manager

Senior Sunrise
Courtesy Photos from Stella Pacheco

Homecoming
Courtesy Photos from Stella Pacheco

From speeches to celebrations, the senior class has had a year full of events to mark the end of high school. Throughout the year, Acalanes Leadership hosted a variety of events featuring games, food, and opportunities to bond. Many seniors look forward to these events as a chance to strengthen class connections.

Each event requires extensive planning and preparation from leadership students. The organization process incorporates parents and the broader senior class to ensure students have a positive experience.

“We spend a lot of time in class organizing,” Associated Student Body (ASB) Vice President and senior Piper Coy said. “We work with our parent liaisons a lot. They know a lot about our class, too, so that’s always fun. We work with [Activities Director Katherine] Walton, we work together, and we also get feedback from students.”

Leadership aims to unite the senior class through these events and provide a memorable and positive end to students’ high school experience.

“It’s just to make the most of your time at the end of your time at Acalanes, bring our class together, and try to make sure it’s a very united community through senior events that everyone shows up to,” Coy said.

Some students feel the most memorable event of the year was homecoming. Although it is not an exclusively senior event, many seniors expressed that it was one of their favorites.

“My favorite event was the [homecoming] skit and ... day in general,” senior Maddie Bernstein said. “I enjoyed the event because it was super fun, and it strengthened connections among the seniors. It was a fun activity where we all got to learn the dances and spend time with our friends heading into our last year at Acalanes.”

Other students look forward to the end-of-year events, as they have a more reflective and celebratory tone.

“I am excited for prom as a senior,” senior Aliyah Vasquez said. “I think that it will be a very special event. I am also looking forward to graduation, hearing people’s speeches, and celebrating with my friends.”

Another key senior event is Time of Reflection. This event features a compilation video for the seniors to reminisce on, as well as student speeches.

“We have auditions, but you get to write a speech about basically anything,” Coy said. “It could be highlighting your experience, [or] it could be through a metaphor.”

The year is concluded with Senior week, a week that precedes finals with a variety of fun events each day, including a skip day, elementary school walk-throughs, Senior Awards, Senior Prank, Senior Sunset, Senior Picnic, and many more.

“My favorite senior event has probably been Senior Sunset because I think it was a really fun and exciting time for everyone to be together and happy to finish the last week strong,” ASB Senior Class President Stella Pacheco said. “I also think discussing the prank was really fun, and the whole class had a great time.”

Throughout the year, leadership tries to publicize and encourage participation to cater to the entire senior class. Many feel that increased participation is more representative of the grade and fosters an increased sense of community.

“We try to make it appeal to everyone,” Coy said. “We do a lot of publicity, we do videos, and we try to interview people from all different sides of the senior class. We really try to encourage different groups to come to make sure there’s everyone there because ultimately, if everyone’s there, it’s more representative of the senior class.”

The whole year of events, culminating in senior week, is an effort to bring the students together and create a bond that can last beyond high school.

“I think people will graduate and want to see each other again, even from different friend groups, and they will hopefully still come back to Acalanes events because they found it as a second home,” Pacheco said.