This unprecedented school year has taken away many of the iconic senior year experiences from the class of 2021. However, as Covid cases fall and restrictions loosen, it appears the end of senior year will be promising. CHS recently released the dates of special in-person events for seniors, such as graduation, Senior Sit out, Prom, the elementary school graduation walks, and Baccalaureate. Though alterations will be put in place to guarantee a safe experience for all attendees, as the school year concludes seniors can expect to be dancing at Prom with friends, and graduating surrounded by classmates.

Prom, one of the most anticipated events, will be taking place on Saturday, June 12 from 7 to 11 p.m. To adhere to covid guidelines and limit contact, the venue will be outdoors and have a 20-25% capacity. Other standard procedures such as wearing masks and mandatory health surveys before the event will be enforced. The Prom court system will be similar to Homecoming’s in January, as students will vote online and learn the different semi-finalists on the ASB instagram. However, unlike Homecoming, the reveal of Prom King and Queen will likely be announced at the in-person dance. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, May 12, and the grand reveal of the theme and location will take place the same week. Since there is limited capacity, seniors will get priority for tickets over juniors considering this is their final opportunity to attend a high school dance.

Since seniors this year missed out on the usual social opportunities, ASB has planned multiple senior-exclusive activities to make up for lost time. On May 4, seniors were invited to a socially distanced viewing of “Shrek” outside at the band stage. The next upcoming event is the final varsity basketball game on May 18, and the final June 1 activity is to soon be announced. The ideas for these new events were inspired by the results of a class of 2021 survey, where students provided feedback on which activities they were most interested in. Despite a large portion of students choosing to finish the year online, it appears many seniors are still planning on attending these end of the year events.

“Everyone I’ve talked to has been super happy we’re doing events because we have all been lacking social interaction this year,” ASB Senior Class President Delaney Vannoy said. “We just want to give the seniors their memories in high school while we still can.”

Senior sit out will take place on Friday June 11, where seniors will also be distributed their cap and gowns for graduation. Unlike last year, the graduation ceremony is expected to follow a more familiar format. On Thursday, June 17, all graduating students will attend the ceremony together on the football field. Whether seniors can bring a set number of guests is still up in the air, but will be decided in the upcoming month. Though it is possible guest seating will be more limited than in the past, the ceremony will be broadcasted for those interested in watching from home. Other important dates are the elementary school grad walks on June 15, where seniors are invited to celebrate and walk through their old elementary school, and Baccalaurate on June 13.

“We’re super happy about it [senior events],” Vannoy said. “A couple months ago we never would have imagined all this would be able to happen.”

Though this school year has presented its challenges, fortunately seniors will be able to safely celebrate finishing high school. Parents and students should expect more details about what to anticipate at these events to come in as their dates approach. Though the state of the pandemic will continue to change, CHS is hopeful that seniors will finish their year on a high note.