Senior Boat Cruise Returns; Senior Board’s First Steps for Fun Senior Year
Brandon Nguyen
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
The event was held on September 29 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, departing from 60 Rowes Wharf in Boston. Activities included a picnic dinner, a DJ, dancing, and views of the sunset. The decision to renew the event was made by the Senior Board advisors, health teacher Holly Breen, and math teacher Scott Armstrong.
Previously a longstanding tradition for seniors at AHS, the boat cruise was last held in 2019 before being canceled due to the pandemic. “When I was the Senior Board Advisor in prior years, we always had the boat cruise, which was always a phenomenal event,” said Breen. Another reason for bringing the boat cruise back was in order to spread senior events throughout the school year. “We don’t want to just have senior activities at the end of the year,” said Breen, “we want to get seniors really starting to hang out together and to be a group and community at the beginning [of the year].”
According to senior Shreya Desai, a member of the Senior Board, a large school issue the Senior Board is focusing on tackling is the lack of school spirit. “We all felt like we had no fun senior events until the end of the year with Senior Week. And with the beginning of the year so stressful for seniors with [college applications], we wanted to give seniors a little more fun.”
320 tickets were sold, according to Breen, out of 410 seniors at AHS. “A big part of that success has been the students on the Senior Board,” said Armstrong. “Their biggest part was getting the word out and getting people to come, which they clearly have been successful at.” Senior Aidan Loucks, another member of the Senior Board, stated, “Our goal is to make this a super fun year for everyone, and get as many people attending and engaging in community events like this.”
Seniors look out at the Tobin Bridge in Boston Harbor from the cruise
The boat cruise isn’t the only event the Senior Board has planned this year. “We have Homecoming on October 19, and the charity football game will be the Monday before Thanksgiving,” said Breen. “We’ll also do the Halloween Costume Contest, and we want to do another event in February or March that’s open to all seniors.”
Loucks and Desai both agreed that their main goal with upcoming events is to increase the turnout. “Attendance wasn’t quite as we wanted [last year] for Homecoming while I was on Junior Board, but this year we’re hoping to turn that around,” said Loucks. “We’re going to work with the Junior Board this year,” said Desai, “to try and bring some new ideas to Homecoming and other future events.”
Overall, the Senior board is working towards brightening up the school and creating a closer community for AHS seniors. “I hope more students just get involved and participate in what we’re planning,” said Armstrong. “I think it’s really going to enhance the culture, but more importantly, it’s going to be fun for everyone.”
