All across America, high schools are celebrating senior nights as they approach the end of their winter seasons. It’s different at every school and personal to every senior, but let’s look at what senior night means here at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School.
Senior night is a long lasting and cherished tradition designed to celebrate our amazing seniors and their leadership. Underclassmen are able to grow and learn from them, turning what was once just an extracurricular into an experience that produces friendships and long lasting memories. It is a reflection of the leadership seniors show throughout the sports season and for decades, the underclassmen have used this event to show their seniors how much they care.
In order to prepare for senior night from the perspective of the administration, director of athletics Coach Stephanie Koroma gets flowers for all of the seniors, and creates a banner including all the seniors from a given team. Additionally, the Head of School and Head of Upper School come to senior night to show their pride in the SSSAS athletics and their gratitude for the continued efforts put in by senior leaders.
So what is senior night? As Coach Koroma puts it, “it’s a culmination of 5-6 years of being a part of a saints athletic program, and it is our one moment to recognize a collective group opposed to people who won a championship or breaking a school record.”
While senior nights at SSSAS have to some degree been standardized, Coach Koroma recalls that the senior nights with “some element of the coaches speaking or the kids speaking on behalf of the athletes always stick out to me because it just shows the depth of the relationship between the athletes and how they meant to them individually.”
It truly is a special and personal time for underclassmen to express the “individual” impact their senior leaders have had on them through their sport.
This personal level that has been added to senior night by each underclassmen is a very large part of what makes it special for the seniors. According to Coach Koroma, underclassmen contribute by “making posters and getting gifts together or putting together words” for their seniors. This adds to the overall supportive and special atmosphere of the occasion. Additionally, Coach Koroma states, “it is their way of paying it forward,” as one day they will likely be in the shoes of the seniors being honored.
As many of us have experienced ourselves, seniors play a huge role in the comradery and success of any team, and senior Karen Lamson from Girls Track tells us that “in the past the seniors have really taken charge. I feel like as a senior I have really stepped into a leadership role,” a sentiment corroborated by seniors from nearly every sport. Across the board, seniors feel themselves stepping into the leadership roles left behind by those before them.
Senior Tawon Figaro, a captain on the Boys Track team, comments on his experience throughout his four years on the team, explaining that “being able to build up these young athletes, being able to do what someone did for me as a freshman and being able to reciprocate that is a really good feeling.”
For some of these seniors, this is the main time they will get to be celebrated as leaders in our community. Like senior and squash captain Georgia Neaderland says, “I only do squash, so I knew this was the only senior night I was going to get. And I thought it far exceeded my expectations,” which makes the ceremony and the contributions from everyone involved even more meaningful.
Sports teams are a place for Seniors to have fun and cultivate a supportive community for the underclassmen. They, of course, do an excellent job and leave big shoes to fill. Senior night is a really amazing tradition everywhere, but especially at SSSAS. It provides underclassmen with a prime opportunity to show their appreciation for the seniors that have led their teams and contributed to the wonderful atmosphere that make sports so special.
