Senior activities are emptying pockets

By Bailey Julian

Senior year is known to all high school students as the year to have fun. It’s the last year we have before making major life decisions such as moving out, going to college, and finding a job to support ourselves. Our school hosts senior events for this purpose, including Senior Day, Prom, Dodgeball Inferno, Senior Breakfast and graduation.

Understandably, we want to do everything, as this is final year in high school. The only thing standing in our way is money.

We always hear that all the money we pay for tickets to football games, basketball games, Homecoming, and Winter Formal goes towards the Associated Student Body (ASB).

However, every class has fundraising events at local restaurants like Presto Pasta, Panda Express, and Bon Bon Tea House, all while selling class apparel.  Since day one of freshman year, the class of 2019 has had many fundraisers. We are told that ticket sales for all senior activities act as a fundraiser, but the average senior does not know where all of the money goes.

After four years of fundraisers, we still pay $40 for Senior Day tickets, $110 for a yearbook, and $40 for Senior Breakfast. While there are discount packages available at the Student Store, they range from $145-$470. While these are estimated costs, they clearly add up.

Ticket prices are also rising. Last year’s Homecoming ticket was $38 without an ASB card, while this year it costs $42. We are told that this money goes towards Prom, to make the dance great, and that because of these fundraisers, Prom tickets won’t be as expensive as they could be. However, this is not just one event. We won’t pay so much money for Prom because we paid an excessive amount for Homecoming and Senior Day.

Seniors already have much to pay for outside of ASB activities, including college applications, SAT tests, and college tours. Having higher prices for activities makes it not worth the money.

The steep prices for staple high school experiences only discourage students from going, to the point that some events are cancelled or the ticket deadline is forced to be extended. Some seniors have jobs, but most don’t want to spend so much of their hard earned money. There is also a number of seniors who don’t have jobs and need to ask their parents for money. Students with financial issues can’t afford a ticket to Senior Day and then, two weeks later, another for Homecoming. This leaves them having to pick and choose which events to attend.

No one should have to be in that position; we should be able to have fun during our last year of high school without having to pay so many expenses. The school should offer more activities on campus so that the cost of facilities and buses would disappear. Then, ASB can put its creativity and planning to work without costing seniors so much money.

ASB puts in so much effort to every event; the planning and the overall work they put into making things happen is unquestionable. However, the amount of money that students currently must pay to participate is unreasonable.