“I think the senior activities that are planned for us are very good, and I think the administration did the best they could for our class under the restrictions that are on us due to Covid-19” -Sophia Campanella
As the school year is coming to a close and COVID restrictions are somewhat becoming eased the senior class executive board and Oliver Ames administration have been working diligently to try and give the Class of 2021 some sense of a senior year experience. The event ideas that are being tossed around have received mixed reviews from OA’s seniors.
OA Senior Sam Streton 
OA Senior Grace Simone
From what is known with COVID guidelines at the moment, the most likely event to occur for the seniors aside from graduation is the annual senior boat cruise. Many seniors are putting the majority of their hope into this event as they were told it is likely going to be the class’s biggest event. Although the seniors have varying degrees of excitement for the events potentially coming their way in the spring.
“Right now the thing I am looking forward to the most is the senior cruise and I really hope that it can happen” explains Max Tower. However, Jonathan McCardle on the other hand states that “I am definitely not very excited for any of the options due to the restrictions, that are obviously in place for our safety, but I think I would least dislike the boat cruise idea since it is the closest to what it would be like without covid.”
The majority of the seniors share the common idea of gratitude for the administration and executive board’s attempt at giving the graduating class a sense of normalcy. Many seniors had very low expectations for what events could occur this year so although they were not expecting too much it is still understandable that there is still a sense of disappointment with how their senior experience is.
Sam Streton gives the school credit for trying as she explained, “I honestly thought we might not be able to have anything at all so I’m grateful that the administration and executive board is trying. I feel like there’s a lot more that goes into it than we think.”
Grace Simone sums up how most seniors during COVID are feeling to a tea.
“I think it’s sweet and their heart is in the right place but it is really tough to make up for a lack of senior year with minimal events and COVID restrictions in place planning events. There’s not much you can really do about missing everything that has been building up for the past 12 years, I just don’t think there really is much to make up for that.”
While the some seniors are continuing to hold out some hope for their events and others have thrown in the towel there are still somethings that this grade wishes could be changed. Many are somewhat disappointed with the way things are planned to be handled and many are still holding out hope for the possibility of more opportunities.
“I wish they could have found a better way to have a prom or have a normal graduation or possibly even a safe grad night or boat cruise. I understand the tough spot we are in with money and COVID and they are doing the best they can but it’s just sad” states Grace Simone.
The students while understanding that some things simply cannot happen this year and it is out of the school’s hands still deserve the right to express their frustrations and disappointments.
Jonathan states his frustrations with “I think that prom being canceled makes sense, but also makes no sense because boat cruise is going to move forward with the whole class in attendance. The senior celebration night just seems so off-putting with only 50 kids allowed at a time while also socially distant. I wish we could’ve at least come up with a better alternative. Also with the entire school returning, and desks no longer meeting social distance requirements, do we really need to follow such strict rules for events? If so, I wish I could understand why it applies for events and not to school itself”