As the end of the year draws nearer, seniors’ schedules start filling up with events that celebrate the end of this chapter of their life. Among these events are Senior Week, Prom Court and a Senior Sign-off video created by the Unbranded broadcast team. Each of these have been carefully planned out to provide the senior class with the opportunity to create lasting memories before they graduate.
Leading up to prom, the week April 7-10, Maverick Leadership has planned Senior Week celebrations that include dress-up days and activities. Taking inspiration from last year in combination with advice from the senior class, dress-up days include shirt signing, 2016 throwback, dressing for future plans and senior denim while the activities are free ice cream and popsicles, Kona Ice, a snack cart and a raffle.
“[Senior Week is a] really big event for seniors, but also underclassmen so they can celebrate their seniors and have some fun times,” junior Maverick Leadership student Bora Kim said.
These events throughout Senior Week build anticipation for prom, another event that Maverick Leadership put a lot of hard work into planning. Weeks before prom, a form was sent out to seniors to nominate people for Prom Court.
“[Seniors] nominate people who they think represent the student body and … set a good example of what it is to be a Maverick,” sophomore Maverick Leadership Camila Hernandez said.
At the pep rally on Thursday, April 2, the students on Prom Court each picked a teacher to walk them out onto the floor and do a fun routine with. The pep rally itself included Great Gatsby themed pieces to provide a little preview for prom night.
“Prom court is very much a tradition that people look forward to,” Hernandez said. “It highlights some students who have represented those qualities and shows recognition for them.”
Senior, John Pacheco, is highly involved at Emerson through Maverick Leadership, Varsity Soccer, and a handful of clubs. Through the voting form, he was nominated by his peers for Prom Court.
“Being nominated to Prom Court means a lot to me to have the honor to represent the school and know that the students around me and the people I’ve built relationships with for the past four years trust me to represent the school and have good character and good personality too,” Pacheco said.
At the pep rally, Pacheco chose his favorite teacher, Coach Allie Rudkin, to escort and crown him. Planning a little routine or performance with Rudkin anytime he needed a teacher to present him at a pep rally, a senior night or celebration has become a tradition for Pacheco.
“We decided to keep it simple, so we don’t have to do any backflips or anything crazy like that,” Pacheco said. “She’s just going to crown me, nice and simple.”
The pep rally was a great event for the nominees as well as the senior class to make memories. Another memorable event for the seniors is Senior Sign-off, which will be led by seniors Giovanni Cameau and Grace Torres of the Unbranded. Unlike last year, where students signed their names on a glass in front of a camera, Cameau and Torres wanted to bring a deeper meaning into this unique tradition by having students answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” on white boards.
“I think it symbolizes the excitement we have as a class to start this next chapter in our lives, and that’s why we asked everyone what they want to be when they grow up,” Cameau said. “They can look back and be like, this is where I was and then see where they are in life later.”
Many difficulties come with trying to plan this kind of event for the senior class. Since the goal is to include as many seniors as possible, scheduling was a major challenge that Cameau and Torres had to overcome in addition to planning all the technical aspects of the event and the filming. Stay tuned via @unbrandedehs on Instagram for the filming schedule. Similar to Prom Court and Senior Week, however, Senior Sign-off is another opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime.
