In the past, Northwood has hosted a Baccalaureate Service the Sunday before graduation. Traditionally, Baccalaureate is a religious ceremony that serves as a send off for seniors. Northwood’s Baccalaureate consisted of awards and was hosted at the school.
The low attendance of the Baccalaureate Service within the past years has inspired Social Studies teacher Skip Thibault to make a change to the tradition.
“Last year we probably had 80 out of 200 seniors show up,” Thibault said. “Attendance was poor, so we picked a day and decided to do all the things for seniors on this one particular day.”
Thibault has overseen most of the planning and changes that must be put in to make Senior Day happen. Senior day will take place May 27.
“This is going to be a cool day,” Thibault said. “We’ll have a senior breakfast catered by someone from the outside. Then, everyone will move to the auditorium and we’ll have the yearbook release. Then, we’re going to bring you guys back to the cafeteria and give information on Project Graduation.”
Project Graduation is a program Northwood offers after graduation where students may participate in activities to win prizes and money instead of partaking in alcohol or drugs.
After the information session on Project Graduation, there will be an awards ceremony in the auditorium, accompanied by performances from Northwood’s A Cappella Group, Pitch Please, Dance Ensemble and Dance IV. Parents are welcome to attend the awards ceremony.
Following the awards ceremony, there will be a cookout for the seniors and recreational activities.
“The entire day is going to be dedicated to nothing but celebrating the seniors,” Thibault said. “If it goes well, we’ll probably do this again and expand upon it in the future.”
– By Katie Robbins