Saturday, April 23 kicked off the senior season at Neuqua Valley with its renowned Senior Spectacular event. The Mardi-Gras themed night was specialized in celebrating the graduating Class of 2022. Considering students only experience one Senior Spectacular, the event went all out to celebrate. The event went from 7p.m. to midnight and featured various activities including karaoke + DJ, inflatables, food and more.

(Olivia)
As a senior, I was grateful that an event celebrating our accomplishments and hard work was occurring. High school students are overwhelmed and stressed a good majority of the time, and it felt nice to have something designed specifically for us seniors. I wanted to keep an open mind for Senior Spectacular because of the price point (a minimum of $75/$85). Honestly, part of me placed expectations because I wanted to make the most of my money and have fun with my friends at the same time. One criticism I would have is the lack of ventilation. Within the first hour or so, the air quickly grew warm, and there was minimal ventilation throughout the whole building, which was due to a few opened doors in the athletic hallway and the aux gym. It made me feel tired a lot faster than I anticipated, and sometimes, it was difficult finding places to sit and relax for a bit. However, the amount of activities available was surprising. I thought the tarot readers, caricature artists and the temporary tattoo parlor were a good idea for things that students our age might like. At first, the lines were long for each of these things, but as the night progressed, it dwindled because people were doing other things. The final of Senior Spectacular and the final closing was my favorite part. I thought the balloon drop was a nice touch to end the night because it made me realize just how far I have come and how quickly the end of the year is approaching.

(Jaclyn)
I was really happy that this year’s seniors got a Senior Spectacular because previous senior’s didn’t get one due to the pandemic. I honestly didn’t know what to expect for this year’s Senior Spectacular, but I wasn’t even sure if I even wanted to go in the first place because of how expensive the tickets were. When we first arrived, our dean checked our student ID to make sure that we were seniors; we didn’t have to prove that we bought tickets, which I thought was strange. Once we got in, we were handed a lanyard with tickets in it for a raffle to win prizes such as prom tickets, a comforter, airpods, a Vera Bradley bag, etc. People who had parents working got extra tickets which I guess was fair because their parents had to put up with our craziness for four hours. I was told by one of the ladies that I won a prize, and when I went to collect it it wasn’t anything big, so I was a little disappointed. Overall, though, there were many activities that we could do in the span of the four hours we were expected to stay. There were bouncy houses, carnival games, big cup pong, a spa where nails and hair could be done, a DJ (that was way better than the homecoming DJ), a fake tattoo parlor and people drawing caricatures. There were also many food and drink options that they offered such as coffee, water, lemonade, greek food, pizza and an assortment of desserts. I definitely enjoyed the experience, but the one thing that wasn’t enjoyable was how hot it was in the building. Me and my friends were both sweating really bad, and the only place that had fans was where the caricature artists were sitting. Even despite these criticisms, I do feel like it was a well set up and organized event which I highly recommend the future classes of seniors to go to.