It is an average tradition for the senior class to give class gifts back to their school. Although many people will walk around and see these cool signs or paintings with ‘Class of 2018’ on them, many people don’t know how it got there or who came up with them. High school students always hear about these class gifts, but never hear about these decisions being made or, let alone, whether each class actually does it. 

“Well not every class gives a gift. It depends on what money they have left after prom junior year, buying stuff for homecoming, and then we also purchase flowers for every student at graduation. So if there’s money left, senior class officers can choose to give a gift or not,” Karla DeCoster, senior class sponsor, said.

If the class has money left over and they decide not to give a class gift, then it rolls over to the next junior class. Some classes might need to use the money left over, so sometimes it’s better not to give a class gift. 

“Right now, the freshman class is really low because they didn’t have the ability to do things because of the whole [COVID-19] situation…So because of that, they are probably gonna be a bit behind and we might need some of that money to roll over and help them out,” Chantel Volkman, activities secretary, said.

While some classes don’t get a chance to give a class gift, there are some memorable gifts as well.

“One group set aside some funds for those water fountains for water bottles. One group did that huge banner at the end of the student section in the main gym. So it’s been varied,” Decoster said. 

Not all class gifts have to be on the walls or in the school. Decoster shares an example of this. 

“Some of the funds are also to give gifts to teachers, like for Mr. Williams. They gave him Cheez-its, because that’s his favorite food,” she said. 

Class gifts really just depend on the funds, what the school needs, and if the senior class officers want to. What seems like once a tradition is now just by chance.