Students to Reflect on Senior Celebration

Student representatives to the School Committee say they think the senior welcome tunnel should continue with safety being the prime consideration.

Questions about safety arose last week after some students hung from windows of cars during the motorcade to the school.

The senior welcome tunnel is a traditional first-day celebration. Seniors meet for breakfast at a parent's house. They then parade in a line of cars to the

It's a loud procession. The upperclassmen honk horns, sound noisemakers and let the world know about their new status.

The celebration continues at the high school. Seniors form a single line and yell with great intensity as students from the other high school grades, teachers and administrators walk by them.

High School Principal Layne Millington said after last Friday's senior celebration that he was pleased with the way the Class of 2013 conducted themselves once they arrived to the school. He also said he had concerns about the drive to school.

Superintendent Lynne Celli echoed that thought at Wednesday's School Committee meeting. She said she was concerned that some students were hanging from windows of cars during the procession.

She urged the student representaitves to reflect on this year's event and talk to the administration and the junior class about how it should be handled going forward.

Ultimately, the superintendent will receive a recommendation from the high school principal on whether the senior celebration should continue next year.

Student Representatives Sam Crimmins and Meg Wynne told the committee that seniors were told quite clearly beforehand that they were not to do anything physical to the underclassmen.

Some of the rules, however, were a bit fuzzy and need to be clarified, Sam said.

The superintendent urged the student representatives to make a list of those items and get clarification on them.

The student representatives also responded to rumors about the spraying of silly string — which is not allowed — and a car accident.

The string was sprayed by underclassmen not seniors, Sam said.

And during the parade to the school there was a minor incident when two cars in line bumped fenders — not a crash, he said.

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