Students spend a day away from school for traditional senior picnic celebration

Seniors+enjoy+the+bumper+boats+on+a+hot+day+Sept.+21+at+Boomers+in++Livermore+for+the+Senior+Picnic.

Nicole Jenkins

Seniors enjoy the bumper boats on a hot day Sept. 21 at Boomers in Livermore for the Senior Picnic.

Nicole Jenkins, Staff Writer

After not attending school in person since three quarters into their sophomore year, the class of 2022 got to experience the magic of their first senior year celebration on a day away from school. On Sept. 21, about 300 students attended the senior picnic at Boomers in Livermore, enjoying the go karts, bumper boats and mini-golf on a day that approached 100 degrees. 

The travel by bus sparked memories for many who had not done this type of field trip due to no in-person school  for over a year due to distance learning the district put in place in March 2020 for more than a year. Once there, the seniors immediately made a run for all the attractions, starting the day with go-karts and ending the day with water bumper boats, which quickly became a favorite in the scorching heat. However this game was not what many expected – the attraction that lasted five minutes left victims looking like they had just jumped in a pool. 

One student noticed a positive discovery about how this water attraction was different from the others.  “I definitely enjoyed the bumper boats the most because everyone was in the moment without their phones,” said Mia Allen. 

Some say the best moments happen when there is not a phone in sight, and that seemed to be the case as the laughter and screaming could be heard from the other side of Boomers and everyone knew why. Classmates threw a special shoutout to Trey Guillory, who was ruthless in spraying everyone with water. 

Students praised the student organizers for making the first senior event happen for the class of 2022. “It was fun to go somewhere with our class after a year and a half of being separate, and finally getting to see their faces without a mask on,” said Ghasal Saeed. 

Leadership class officers worked hard to organize the event, which cost $60 per student, including lunch and a special senior shirt designed by senior Lauren Petersen. “Nearly the entire senior class purchased tickets to go, which was amazing, and despite the hot weather towards the end I think everyone had a great time with all of the games, activities, and snacks,” senior class President Tina Abedi said.

“It was great to have a day for the senior class to just spend time together and relax during our last year together,” Abedi said. “A great deal of teamwork went into planning Senior Picnic, including the designing of the senior shirts and the help of Leadership students in distributing them, as well as securing enough buses to transport all those who attended. Additionally, we were very fortunate to have the teachers, staff, and parents who volunteered as chaperones and the parents who provided water and snack donations for the event.” 

Leadership advisor Kourtnie Howerton was equally pleased. “The past experiences of planning this event definitely helped; learning from past mistakes or finding new ways to improve communication with families, the check-in process in the morning and loading buses. It’s definitely a lot of behind-the-scenes work to make sure the event gets executed smoothly, but I think this year by far was the best,” Howerton said. 

She added that this event benefits the senior class. “After tickets to Boomers, district busses, staff chaperones, senior shirts, pizzas and waters the event came to nearly $15,000. It is a fundraiser as well and the profits go to making the senior ball tickets start below $100, since that is nearly a $55,000 event in itself,” she said.

The senior picnic will be sure to go on for many years.