Senior Events

As the end of the school year rolls around, senior events have started to pop up. We have hit the point many seniors have looked forward to since being a freshman, especially since 8th grade was not ended off on a good note due to covid.

There are three main events that come with being a senior: Six Flags Grad Nite, Prom, and Graduation. The prices are broken down as follows:

Principal Ryan Glowacz, via email, said, “Six Flags charges $55 per ticket and requires all students to arrive on a school sponsored bus. Each bus costs $604 and 40 students can ride on each bus, which costs $15 per student. This is the reason students are charged $70 to attend 6 Flags Grad Nite.”

Graduation is broken down in our senior activities bulletin, “The Senior Graduation fee is $105. This fee covers the following expenses: Cap and Gown- $25.00, Diploma Cover- $10.00, Lawn Sign- $15.00, UIC Pavilion Rental- $30.00, Misc. Items (Cords, Ribbons, Security, Decorations)- $15.00, Tickets/Program Printing Cost: $10.00.”

When senior events started to be announced it was made very clear that all outstanding Aspen fees were to be paid prior to purchasing anything towards senior events. There are many split opinions on having to pay the fees first.

Taft senior Jazmin Maldonado said, “I think it’s a good idea just so students won’t get into more debt.”

However Taft senior Rayane Belmiloud said, “I think it’s not the best decision because it gives people a much harder deadline to achieve in terms of of paying off what could be thousands of dollars on top of a $70 ticket, although we were told about it, it still limits how much time we had to actually figure out how to pay it off.”

Students understand that these prices can be high and include a lot of factors, however some are feeling a little confused about the prom price as it is set at $135. Maldonado said, “I feel like the prices are much higher than other schools.”

Taft senior Ava Balmaseda said, “I think some are reasonable and some are overpriced.”

Even though some students feel the process has lacked proper timing in them finding out how the process of paying and attending is going to work for these senior events, it has not distracted from the excitement seniors are feeling to be able to attend the events.

Balmaseda said, “I am excited but I’m also sad because these are my last memories I’ll make during high school.”

Maldonado and Belmiloud both also expressed that they were excited to attend these events. Belimiloud said, “I’m excited to be done with work and enjoy these months with my friends but not as excited to say goodbye to everyone when I graduate.”

Despite the prices and lack of time seniors have till graduation to work their way around the pricing. Seniors are still excited for these events to come up and for them to make their last high school memories with friends.