With graduation around the corner, seniors gave a toast to finishing strong. On Feb. 7 senior advisers held their annual Senior Rally celebration to reward seniors for their academic achievements and to try to motivate them for their last months as seniors.
Senior Advisers Melanie Lindsey, Heather Ferris, Cherie Eulau, Justin Frazier, and Jason Dinkler coordinate senior events like this one to encourage students as they enter into the last semester of their high school careers.
For the third year, S.O.A.R. (Senior Only Academic Rally) has been a motivational rally for all seniors. With graduation around the corner, seniors feel the pressure of finishing their last year at Foothill more than ever.
Sometimes seniors feel like giving up, explained Captain Lindsey, but she said, “you need to get back to it, that’s part of life.”
Seniors were given a raffle ticket as they were walking into Spirito Hall, which they would later on raffle of gift cards to the winners, and all seniors wearing their “Finish Strong” band were rewarded with an extra ticket.
In the rally, seniors were given awards in a variety of categories, including Most Inspirational, Most Achieved, Most Improved, Most Participatory and Perfect Attendance. Though all of their hard work was recognized, the highest recognition was for the Salutatorian and Valedictorian students.
Salutatorian students Jongin Baek, Travis Dunlop, Caroline Frambach, Amanda Marshall, Michael Fickenscher, and Sabrina Partridge all took Honors and AP classes and received at least one B during their four years at Foothill, which means they have a GPA of 4.8 or above on a 4.0 scale.
Valedictorian students Colin Crilly, Jacqueline Kroll, Sam O’Donnell, Lauren Zimmerman and James “Jim” Bern took Honors and AP classes all through out high school and received a 4.9 or above GPA on a 4.0 GPA scale, which meant they never earned anything less than an A in their classes.
“I would rank this class one of our strongest class academically and their positive attitude. They really care about making a difference,” Principal Joe Bova said.
At the moment Foothill seniors are the only ones that have been able to enjoy this rally. Unfortunately, other high schools have not had the chance to experience S.O.A.R. because of budget shortfalls.
I wish all the schools could afford it,” Captain Lindsey explained.
Seniors feel the pressure more than ever. With college applications and their Hero project some seniors feel like giving up or giving in to senioritis. S.O.A.R. was a motivation and reminder to them that they shouldn’t give up so close to the end.
“This is a reminder to all seniors to finish strong this last semester,” said senior class president Noelle LeBlanc.
