By: Bella Aldridge
Every year, each senior provides a quote next to their picture in the yearbook. Senior quotes are a way to express themselves. For some people, they have been planning out their quote, for their whole high school experience.
This year, however, will be different for Redwood Highschool. As of this year, not everyone will get a senior quote. As a compromise, Yearbook teacher Mr. Feehan gave seniors the opportunity to submit a senior quote, as long as they bought a yearbook “prior to October 1”.
Mailiah Narvasa 20’, is one of the three student editors of the yearbook. Jokingly rolling her eyes, she said, “The senior quote was the one thing that people could make their own.”
Kristal Ombogo 20’, is yet another editor for the yearbook. She is a little more understanding of the change, as, “it wasn’t that big of a tradition…Mr. Feehan was the one to bring them in, so it makes sense for him to take them out if he wanted to.” However, she also says, “I think it is kinda restricting against our senior class…so it’s not really fair for us to get punished for something that happened a while ago.”
The third editor of the yearbook is Rikki Gonzales 20’. In an interview, Gonzales told Gigantea that she was initially shocked, and at the same time disappointed, when she heard about the change by her adviser, Mr. Feehan. She goes on to say, “I felt like it was a way for kids (seniors) to kinda get their last words… to put their personality into it.”
All three editors have claimed to have had no say in the change of senior quotes. Gonzales advises seniors that are disappointed with the change to “roll with the punches”, that it’s not the end of the world. She wants people to keep in mind that they are still getting to put in their very special and unique senior signature.
Jada Griffiths 20’, president of Redwood High School also spoke out on this hot topic. Jada believes that there is “reason behind not having the senior quotes the original way.” She thinks that just because this year’s yearbook is going to be slightly altered, it will still be, “just as amazing as always!”
Mr. Feehan’s viewpoints differed from the rest. The decision was supported by representatives a Jostens and administrations here at Redwood. He claims to have brought these quotes to Redwood around seven years ago. According to Feehan, it is, “Basically the trend at a lot of schools to get rid of them right now”. Not only is Redwood getting rid of them, but schools across America are. Mr. Feehan also explained, “For whatever reason, teenagers nowadays are more likely than they were a few years ago to try to include like really hateful things.”, and, “They have nothing to do with the year itself, they often don’t reflect that student, just what they thought was funny at that time.”
By removing senior quotes, Feehan hopes to help save the reputation of each senior who tried to say something that would soon be regretted. Yearbook claims to incorporate the extra time they will have into other parts of the yearbook.
Now that you have all the information, what side will you take on this pressing topic?