With the 2025-2026 school year coming to an end, there is a lot to think back on. There is also a lot to start thinking about in the coming year. There will be the new eight block schedule, hope for new and improved sports teams and the welcoming of new teachers.
There will be one group that the student body will miss, and those are the senior class of 2026. For their last few goodbyes, they have provided a few tips and tricks for upcoming freshmen, some shout outs to teachers and words about what they loved about their high school career.
As cheesy as it sounds, many of the seniors explained how some of their favorite moments in high school were the friendships they made along the way. Clubs, sports and various classes are easy ways to make new friendships that can grow though the four long years of high school.
Upcoming freshmen may walk into the school with zero clue how to even survive the first quarter of their first year. So the seniors have provided some advice that helped them get through high school.
Luke Ertel said, “The advice I would give to younger classmen is to stay patient in whatever you are doing. You never know what door will open up from just sticking with it and waiting for your opportunity to come. Because an opportunity definitely will arise so you better be ready!”
Guinevere Williams added, “One piece of advice that I would give to younger students is to do your work to the best of your ability. Just try and try again to be your best because it will push you to be better than you think you can become.”
High school is one of the most important points in a student’s education, so focusing is essential, not just on schoolwork, but also in finding oneself.
School cannot be the way it is without teachers, and these seniors have some shoutouts they would like to give to the ones that made impacts on their lives.
Williams gave, “A shoutout that I would like to give is to Mrs. Sherbak because she was a wonderful teacher my freshmen year that set me up for success in my early stages of high school.”
Ertel said, “I would like to give a shout out to Mr. Doud. He was a great teacher that made pre-calculus easy to understand while also having fun with us. He had a calculator game that would randomly call on one of us to answer the problem so it kept us on our toes!”
Marissa Miner said, “I would like to give a shoutout to Mr. Mills because in all of my four years of high school I have never seen a day where he isn’t smiling and greeting students.”
Lastly, seniors talked about what they learned about themselves in high school. Students do not just learn about algebra, they can learn about who they are as a person and how they want to look in the future, whether that is finding more about their personality or what they want to do in the future.
Cameron Williams said, “I have learned that it is important to be surrounded by the people who care about you, and I am going to make sure I am around the right people in college because of it.”
Clark Wright added, “I learned that I don’t have to please everyone whether it be teachers, coaches, classmates, or my parents. I was so worried about what everyone else wanted from me that I wasn’t focusing on what I really wanted.”
Lastly, Zoey Gaw said, “One thing that I will carry with me to college that I learned from high school is to stay positive and if you want something you have to go get it. Nothing will be given to you so you have to work for it.”
For many teachers and students, it is going to be quite hard to let these role models leave, whether they are going to college, the military, or a job. Good luck senior class of 2026.