Throughout high school, underclassmen hear about Senior Skip Day and make hypothetical plans: hanging out with friends, sleeping in, getting food, or watching movies.
When skip day was announced this year by seniors, I knew what I wanted to do: come to school. I thought I would have a relaxing day, plus I would get to write this story documenting my day sans classmates.
Driving to school this morning, there was a gorgeous sunrise that definitely added to the calm vibes of the day. On the way, I listened to The Bridge on SiriusXM, with the sweet sounds of Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, and that new AI Beatles song.
Dressed in sweats and carrying a travel mug of hot apple cider, I was ready to face another day of school, albeit without most of my friends.
Once I got into the parking lot, I realized just how many seniors were going to be “out sick” today. So here it goes: My day, in school, on senior skip day.
I have the Keystone Rewards Study Hall first period, so I usually come in through the security entrance before second period starts. Today, though, I had my weekly meeting with special education teacher Eric Jankoski about the Intro to Special Ed virtual class that I am taking.
Jankoski said that a student-advertised senior skip day is a relatively new concept.
“It used to be a surprise. Teachers didn’t realize it until, like, third period, when they were all like ‘Oh, that’s what day it is.’ I don’t know why everyone knows about it ahead of time now,” Jankoski said.
Next, I walked to my second period College Algebra and Trig class. There were eight students, including three other seniors. Teacher Donna Vecchio taught her lesson about amplitude and period in a quiet and echoey classroom. She also gave us a quiz bonus as an incentive for coming to school.
“I want to make sure that it is worth your while to come,” Vecchio said.
Senior Theo Dodds, who sits next to me in trig, also came to school today.
“I don’t want that unexcused absence,” Dodds said. He noted, however, that he might go to a friend’s house after school.
After trig class came preschool. The preschool teacher was not here today, so our class was sent to the north atrium. Or, rather, what was left of our class: just me. Out of 18 seniors, I was the only one in school today. I started working on this story and did some work for my Lit and Philosophy class. It was eerily quiet in the atrium.
Principal Shaun Tomaszewski and Assistant Principal Denise Wells stopped down to the atrium and commented on the lack of students there, and they also questioned why I was in school today.
Though Baldwin didn’t have an official senior skip day when Wells went to school here, there were a few days at the end of the school year when kids would skip.
“My mom would never let me go,” Wells said. She noted that of her four high school years, she was only allowed to skip one end-of-year day.
I went up to Victoria Sgattoni’s middle school special education class to help out during fourth period. I worked with the kids on their daily activities and did a puzzle during their “quiet time.” It was nice to be in a classroom with more than just a few kids.
Fifth period CHS Lit and Philosophy only had two other seniors. On the tentative schedule for today had been a timed essay, but it got pushed to Monday, with today being a bonus work day on assignments.
Senior Evan Paul said that he is in school today because he will be missing much of next week, so he wants to stay caught up on work.
“I’m going on a college tour and then getting my wisdom teeth out,” Paul said.
Teacher Dr. Dan Harrold said the senior classes have been mostly empty for him all day.
“First and second period, I had two kids each period,” Harrold said.
He also noticed that classes seemed to get even lighter in the second half of the day.
“Some kids left midway through the day,” he said. For a student to be marked present, they have to attend at least four periods.
Harrold said the senior teachers have benefited from the light classes as well. He spent his day reading Les Miserables.
“I started it at 7:30 this morning, and I should be able to finish it by the end of the day,” he said.
Sixth period orchestra had 14 kids; I was the only senior present out of four in the class. We got a work day to record a playing assignment, and then I continued to work on this story, untaped color guard flags, and practiced for our winter concert on Dec. 18. I also ate my lunch in this class.
Seventh period was photography. There were four kids and no other seniors. I finished up an assignment, edited some pictures to turn in on Canvas, and updated my portfolio.
Sophomore Andy Wojtowicz, whom I share a camera with, noticed the absence of seniors today.
“I feel like I haven’t really seen any seniors in the halls,” Wojtowicz said.
My final period of the day is the Purbalite class. Today, there were 10 kids and four other seniors. I finished up this story and posted it, as well as working on a few other stories.
Overall, I didn’t feel that I was missing out on too much, and it was a calm and relaxing day to get some work done.
