The Senior Signing Party: A Final Goodbye
May 20, 2022
The minute 2:00 pm hit, the cafeteria lit up with excitement from all the seniors! Not just to say their final goodbyes to the teachers that raised them, but also to celebrate the end of their exhausting, but still memorable high school years. And it all seemed to mark the beginning of a new chapter in their lives!
The annual senior signing party is a collaboration between PPCHS’s yearbook and SGA team. This teacher appreciation week, SGA wanted to give the seniors a way to recognize their teachers, while the yearbook team could promote the release of the 2021-2022 Prowler Yearbook.
Some of the students on the Prowler staff were brought to tears while watching some of their favorite classmates ending their time at PPCHS. Keira Tejada, one of the photographers at the event, admitted that the signing party gave her a bittersweet feeling. The sophomore expressed, “While it was great watching the senior signing party come together, it felt like so much more. Seeing smiles on both kids’ and teachers’ faces is not something you see too often. Everyone in the room was bright with school spirit and all the commitment gear was so great to see. It might’ve even given me a few ideas on which colleges I’d want to apply to. And I’m so proud to say that the yearbook and SGA did an amazing job this year! It was a win for everyone!”
For SGA, the signing party was their last event of the year! With the majority of the leadership class graduating in a few months, it gave the underclassmen an opportunity to showcase their ability to plan events to their classmates, the SGA class, their advisor, and themselves. Brianna Correa, SGA’s historian for the 2022-2023 school year, expressed her mixed emotions about it all. The junior stated, “I had such a great year with the seniors this year, that I wanted to do my best to make the signing party just as special for them. I will admit it took a lot of work and time, but I think it was a huge success! It showed me that next year, without them and Mr.Curry, we’re still in good shape. And I hope the seniors, staff, and faculty all enjoyed the event too.”
Many of the seniors seemed to recall how refreshing it was to speak to some of their old teachers again. And even more noticed how cool it was being able to represent the school they would be attending, while also being able to see everyone else’s college commitments. For Emily Esquivel, a senior attending FIU in the fall, the signing party felt like the beginning of the end. “I’ve been with so many of these kids since kindergarten, it’s like we all grew up together. Us sitting in the cafeteria and reminiscing through the memories we made together was so moving. Especially knowing we’re all going off on our separate ways so soon. It feels like the end of an era!”
Though the signing party closed teacher appreciation week this year, it doesn’t end yet! The yearbook team is still working on distributing as many books as they can, while the seniors pack their bags to head onto their next journey. And hopefully, with the enthusiasm seen around the room, the mentor–mentee relationships built between a few students and their teachers will continue even outside the PPCHS gates.
