Wesleyan prioritizes celebrating the senior class every year to highlight the importance of building relationships before the seniors begin their next chapter outside of Wesleyan’s gates. 12th grade girls chair Kendra Morris and 12th grade boys grade chair Philip Hart work diligently throughout the entire school year and during holiday breaks to give the seniors a fun-filled year. They coordinate events like the senior back-to-school party and parent dinner, the pickleball tournament, trivia night, and many others to give seniors an exciting variety of events. Morris said, “The desire for these kinds of events is to create moments for the class to stop and pause time. We plan something fun and help the class remember why they love this place and help the senior class create memories together.”
Some senior events are for just students, but there are many that also include parents. Student-only activities include the senior sunrise service, trivia night, pickleball tournament, wonderful Wednesday service day, Christmas party, senior week, and the senior class trip. Senior Piper Prince said, “I love having senior specific events because they create nice ways to bring all of the seniors together to just create some amazing last memories with each other before we all head off to college.” This extensive list of events is meant to create opportunities for the seniors to dedicate time to being together and pause the pressures and stresses of all that comes with senior year. Hart said, “Something seems to happen senior year when people are maturing and talk to each other more. These events are important because they create class unity, and they give students the opportunity to get to know each other better.”
These events have all become traditions in some way as many of them have been standing for over 10 years and are “fan favorites.” Parent and student activities include the back to school dinner, dad – daughter event, mother – son event, mother – daughter brunch, evergreen lunch, father – son donuts, baccalaureate, and graduation. Morris said, “Many of the parent events came to be because we wanted to include each parent at some point all together. It can be hard to be a senior parent because the time flies and both students and parents get incredibly busy.” Even parent-focused events are used to encourage slowing down and appreciating the year as it goes.
Extensive planning and preparation must go into these events, all led and planned by Morris and Hart. Morris had been the senior girls grade chair for 14 years and Hart has been the senior boys grade chair for 6 years. While they are both well versed in what needs to be done on the front end of events, they pull in extra help from the senior class officers. The senior class officers are picked from an application and interview process the spring of their junior year. The senior officers meet with Morris and Hart on holiday breaks, every Thursday during lunch, and work many hours behind the scenes of the events. The officers help plan events, decide meals and treats, and set up and take down any used decorations. Morris said, “By 2013, I decided we needed a senior class officer team to help with these events, partly to give a chance for leadership roles among the officers, and partly to pull in feedback from people in the grade all of the events are for.”
Senior year is a whirlwind of stress, fun, and opportunities for many; having events specifically for the senior class allows for time to slow down and become more special. Each event provides a unique way for students to spend time with important people in their lives.
