Senior Year Should Go

By Paul Geary

Now, I love me a good Spirit Shovel. I love Spirit Week, and the transformation of the hallways into foreign lands made of crepe and cardboard. I love the reliable tradition of Senior Night, and the prom. I love my Advisory. I love senior year. That’s why I propose getting rid of it.

Well, not entirely, and not for everyone. But as any teacher who teaches a senior class with regularly empty seats, decreasing work quality, and a constant cacophony of “Can we go outside?” can attest, senior year at Woodland Regional High School needs some serious reconsideration. “What? Not my seniors! My senior love learning, even in the 4^th marking period!” Really? According to March’s attendance records, there were 37 different seniors with one unexcused tardy that month, and 24 different seniors with more than one unexcused tardies.

As for excused tardies, a whopping 54 different seniors had at least one, while 47 more different seniors were late, but excused, more than one day in March. But at least these kids made a cursory attempt to get here. 31 of their classmates knocked off at least one day during March, while another 13 skipped more than one day. And lenient parents (or skilled mimics) excused 57 seniors for at least one day during that month, while another 52 were called out more than one day. Hardly a rapt audience … and we still have the rest of May and June to get through! Rumors abound of Senior Skip Day 2 – a nice break from taking a break.

Now, is this to say that the seniors are a shiftless, lazy lot, who have no use for school? Of course not – we all know enough seniors completing wonderful senior projects, helming charitable events, achieving final athletic glories, and still mining academic gold in their classrooms.

But one only needs to look at the above attendance records (April’s records would not be completely representative, since there is a weeklong vacation during the month), or listen to anecdotal evidence from senior teachers, to realize that many seniors do not feel a compulsion to be here anymore, at least not during the second semester.

Many college-bound seniors have wrapped up their acceptance long ago, and future military men and women have likewise made their arrangements. With the exception of having to pass English and Civics, many seniors quite simply do not need to be here, at least not to prove their academic acumen.

Now again, this is not the case for all 12^th graders – there are those who need more than the minimum classes and/or credits to graduate, or who need to take a rigorous schedule to gain acceptance to their chosen college and program. And it would be wrong to ignore the fact that many of our seniors quite simply want to learn, even when the June sun is shining, and the beach is sounding its siren song.

But why force all seniors to acquiesce to the outmoded notion of four years in a high school building? As the rest of the world outside of Woodland’s walls continually and rapidly evolves, the school stubbornly clings to the status quo. True, some of the reasons for this are due to forces beyond the school’s control, mostly notably financial constraints. But there are alternatives that are definitely worth considering, to remain competitive with other highs schools, and to remain socially and academically relevant.

According to a recent essay (published February 28^th) written by Walter Kirn in The New York Times Magazine,  Utah Republican State Senator Chris Buttars proposed that the state consider partially eliminating 12^th grade. The impetus for this idea is, unfortunately, financial rather than academic (the state faces a $700 million deficit, and it is hypothesized that this move could save the state anywhere from $70 – $105 million), but it is not without some merit.

The plan would allow students who complete their high school credits in three years to leave high school. Where they would go next is not exactly clear, but roaming the hallways, hanging out in the parking lot, and logging four and a half hours at their lockers or in the bathroom would not be options.

State Senator Buttars is not the only one who is proposing this idea. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is planning on granting $1.5 million to a project organized by the National Center on Education and the Economy that would spring kids from high school after the 10^th grade, and allow them to begin academic work at a local community college.

Outraged critics of this idea should consider that similar programs exist in nations such as Denmark, Finland, France, and Singapore – countries whose school systems often outrank the United States’ in global rankings. It is important to note that both of these plans would be optional; any student who planned on attending a four year college would need his or her senior year classes.

Another option that is currently working in many high schools right here in Connecticut is a senior internship program. One of the goals of senior year of high school is to prepare students for the so-called “real world.” Rather than forcing our seniors to swelter away in a classroom, or lamenting when they don’t show, why not get them out into the real world?

Wilton High School sets hundreds of their seniors up with internships at local, Westchester Country, and New York City businesses for the last five weeks of the school year. Darien High School is piloting a similar program this year, and Greenwich High School places approximately 500 seniors a year in real world, business experiences. The seniors who are eligible for internship placement have completed their coursework with a minimum GPA, and usually have to meet some sort of attendance and discipline requirements.

Students gain valuable work and life experience, while still meeting and working with a mentor from their high school. Furthermore, with hundreds of seniors out of the physical building for the end of the year, tardies, absences, referrals, and inclass apathy would vanish out the door with the seniors.

This can only help teacher morale at the end of a hectic school year. Now, the aforementioned high schools exist in a very different socio-economic environment than Region 16, so financial constraints might make this a mere pipe-dream for Woodland’s seniors. But any possible avenue towards a program like those at other schools should be explored.

Finally, one other aspect of the senior conundrum that should be reconsidered is the curriculum itself. Why is it that some seniors do not feel any compulsion to exert themselves, or, in some cases, show up at all, to their senior classes? Now, this is not to advocate allowing the inmates to run Arkham, but as a school, we do owe it to our students to ensure that they are always learning and applying anew, and not just doing the same thing for the fourth time.

Students who have weathered the four year odyssey of high school should be allowed to moor their brains in stimulating electives or elective-like classes. Stretch the mind and soul a bit more by applying three-and-a-half years of learning to mythology studies, or film classes, or a concentration on modern warfare or human rights issues.

The arguments against the elimination of senior year often focus on fears of destroying such precious American institutions as Pep Rallies and the Senior Prom. Looked at pragmatically, it is tough to justify tax payer dollars solely funding a year-long victory lap. In these dire economic times, it is not a high school’s responsibility to fill their seniors’ social calendars; it’s supposed to be filling their hearts and minds. That being said, none of the above options need to be mutually exclusive of the standard high school institutions. Students who choose, if given the option, to leave high school early can always attend the prom and other senior events, if allowed to. But it stands to reason that if a student is willing to forgo his or her senior year, he or she is mature enough to understand that he or she is making certain sacrifices, certain senior events perhaps being among them. And there is no reason why students who are completing internships would not be able to still partake in all of the senior year bacchanalia; perhaps with a busier and more intellectually active workload, they may avoid some of the Dionysian aspects that would normally go along with it.

Like most aspects of public education, it would probably take a monumental sea change or act of god to affect a change to business as usual – four years of high school, come hell or high water. Like so many of our American institutions in these rapidly changing times, it is time to reconsider the American senior year. Our 12^th grades deserve it, and, more importantly, need it.

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