The last year of high school is a huge milestone for many young people. Graduation serves for a very exciting time, but how can students leave their marks behind as they get ready to step into the next phase of their life? With senior quotes that is, and luckily Taft is now including senior quotes in this year’s yearbook!
The Taft 2023-24 year is a year of many firsts, such as the first senior-only lunch room, the first physical newspaper since before COVID, and now the first yearbook in years to include senior quotes.
“This is the first year in my ten years that I actually allowed it, because a lot of times it’s more trouble than it’s worth. But this year I decided to be open minded, after being reflective and I inquired with Mr. McKinney about if we could do it and he agreed we’d do it as long as we monitored it,” said Taft Principal Mark Grishaber.
Many high schools across the nation have had the tradition of having the graduating class leave some words of wisdom or jokes to laugh at for their fellow peers or for the underclassmen as they too embark on a new journey of entering a new grade. It allows for students to say something funny or inspiring to their peers.
“I think students get a couple of nuggets of wisdom that their friends have said, I’m hoping that our younger students, our juniors, sophomores, freshman look at them, and you know it says things like, ‘Don’t wait last minute to do your extended essay,’ and all those other stuff. Our seniors might help other students out,” said Grishaber.
How can seniors submit their quotes? Thanks to English and Yearbook teacher John McKinney and Assistant Principal Patrick Levins, it’s very simple for seniors to submit their quotes. An email, with an attached Google Form was sent out earlier in November, where students can leave their information and the quote of their choosing.
“When there’s 1000 students, but only ten percent of them respond, it’s kind of sad. But when there’s many quotes from students, you get kind of an insight into how kids look at life around them or what words stick with them,” said McKinney.
By the looks of it, many seniors are planning on leaving a quote. Ever since the announcement, students have all been highly enthusiastic about what they want them to say.
“I’ve been having a hard time deciding if I want to write something funny or something that holds wisdom. A lot of my friends are going down either route, so it’s fun to see the wide variety of what people are saying. I think your senior quote should represent you as a person, so I just gotta brainstorm a little more,” said Mia Strother, Taft Senior.
If you are a senior, or a prospective senior at Taft, get down to deciding what it is your quote will be, take advantage of this awesome new addition to our yearbook, and remember, make sure it’s school appropriate if you don’t want your quote to be replaced with “I Love Taft!” said Grishaber.
