Class of 2024 enjoy senior day activities
By Dominic Leading Fox
On Friday, May 3rd, the Class of 2024 gathered for Senior Awards, Senior Picnic and an assembly involving Beyonce, Martian rappers and a hypnotist. As their last year of high school comes to a close this month, seniors enjoyed a day of fun and leisure while soaking in memories with their friends around them.
The day opened with Senior Awards, where dozens of scholarships, awards and recognitions were given to deserving, hard-working seniors with their families in attendance.
“It’s such an honor to be able to recognize all of the amazing accomplishments of our Class of 2024,” stated OHS Principal Tiffani Cooper. “We have so many deserving seniors, so it was really neat to be able to get them across the stage and recognize them.”
Many students shared their specific accomplishments.
“I got the Outstanding Senior in Social Studies award, the Adam Van Curen Memorial Scholarship, an NHS cord, a Distinguished Scholar award and I was an Oklahoma Academic Scholar,” recalled senior Abi Rasmussen.
“I had no idea I was gonna win an award today. I got the National Technical Honors Society Award,” said senior Kaden Oakley.
“It was cool seeing some friends up there getting recognition for all their hard work,” said Marcos Arrozzo-Delgado. “It was so good to see you up there, man,” Arrozzo-Delgado’s friend added.
“I wasn’t even up there!” he returned.
After the awards, the Class of 2024 made their way to the football stadium for the main event: the picnic. There was nine square, bouncy houses, frisbees and cornhole—in other words, high schoolers finally got their recess.
“It’s been great!” exclaimed student council Vice-President Joey Perkins. “You know, we just spent some time awarding our seniors, and now we’re just out here having some fun, throwing the frisbee around, [playing] spike ball, all the good stuff.”
Photo of Hangkong Yang by Dominic Leading Fox
“I’ve been bumping the volleyball around with my friends, that’s pretty much it!” explained senior Hangkong Yang.
“I 1v1’d Mrs. Whiddon [in soccer], and she lost,” shared senior Hector Reynoso. “R.I.P. Mrs. Whiddon—she definitely used to play soccer. She was good.”
“Just been playing catch with the homies, that’s pretty much it…got a little good lunch, it’s been fun,” explained senior Roman Graham.
“I’m out here running around some stuff with the gang, vibing out with the mob, almost threw up, but it ain’t nothin' to me,” said senior Chris Delgado. “The food was alright but I put too much mustard on my dog.”
“My hands got sticky from the ice cream but it's okay,” expressed senior Hannah Stephens. “I almost got hit by a football walking over here.”
As Stephens said, many projectiles were flown across the football field during the picnic.
“We’re just collecting astroturf in a frisbee,” explained Kaden Oakley. “I think we’re gonna throw it at somebody.”
“I think [] giving everybody flying weapons maybe wasn’t the best idea?” laughed senior Samuel Marshall. “Coach Graham got on the balcony and everyone was throwing frisbees at him. Someone got one to him and he threw it back. It was funny.”
Senior David Irvin was hit by a stray frisbee, thus beginning his mission to rid the senior class of their frisbees. Photos by Dominic Leading Fox.
“It’s fun!” exclaimed senior Max Brimer. “Like, we just get to throw frisbees at everybody.”
Many seniors savored the fun day as one of the last moments they would have with all of their longtime peers. The event gave students the chance to interact with classmates they hadn’t seen in a long time.
“It’s just crazy cause this is gonna be the last time we’re all gonna be together like this,” explained senior Chris Turner. “Like, we’re probably never gonna see hardly any of these people—ooo! She just got hit in the head!”
Cooper Stenstrom checks Vince Sims’ reflexes after he was headshot by a frisbee.
For the last event of the day, the seniors were herded back into the PAC for a moment they wouldn’t soon forget: the hypnotist. Some students were excited, some were skeptical, others were scared.
“He’s probably gonna make me float or something, and then the whole school’s gonna go crazy,” shared senior Lee Burns.
“I wanna see one of my friends get hypnotized,” said senior Hangkong Yang. I heard last year that one of the older guys got hypnotized to be Beyonce.”
“I told my dad about [the hypnotist] earlier and he seemed pretty unnerved about it, told me not to do it,” said senior Birdy Crowson.
In the end, the hypnotist didn’t make anyone float or do anything illegal, but he did make a crowd of eighteen-year-olds laugh out loud. Twenty chairs were filled up with student volunteers, and they began a process of ultra-relaxation.
Amongst his tricks, the hypnotist made his volunteers feel scorching hot and freezing cold. He made them see each other as celebrities and even transported them to a competitive horse race. A rap battle later ensued, however, all of the lyrics were in an alien Martian language. They danced, they cried, they screamed, but in the end, everyone returned to their normal selves.
While nobody could account for the hypnotist’s tricks, they could all agree that Senior Day was one to remember. As of Friday, there are two weeks til these seniors walk across the stage and enter the real world. But for now? They’ll continue to have fun being kids.