When seniors leave the school, something leaves with them. There’s a quiet in the classes, and an emptiness in the hallways. However, the infamous Senior Pranks are not the senior class’s last huzzahs. That, is saved for the senior banquet.

The senior banquet was held for the senior class on May 21, a few days after seniors leave the classrooms of Rock Bridge for the last time. Hosted at the Courtyard by Marriott, the banquet is dedicated as the final gathering for the seniors of that year, a party held for all the departing students.

Students arrive in a trickle by 6:30, then a veritable flood as the minutes tick by. A tidal wave of dress shirts and dresses eventually peters out, as seniors take their seats in a large dining room of over 20 tables. As the students take their seats, Student Council vice president Maddie Wipfler, Senior Class Leader Isabelle Boushard and secretary Allie Kreklow take to the stage, giving a speech to welcome all the attending seniors to the banquet. They also started off by thanking and calling up to the stage a few faculty members that they as seniors were grateful to, such as Mr. Moss and Krista Albrecht. Presenting gifts in giant envelopes and bags of candy, they made their appreciation well known to these teachers.

Once the speeches and well wishing was taken care of, the speakers released the seniors table by table to go get food. And this is where the true spirit of the senior banquet comes through, claims student council President Jack Schimpf.

“It’s a good opportunity to get out of school, it’s our last week. To just be able to be away from parents, a lot of teachers, a lot of administrators, and just be our class.” Schimpf asserts. And this statement is embodied in the chattering and laughing of countless students as they eat dinner and socialize. Senior Class Sponsor Melissa Coil agrees with this statement.

“It’s really the only chance they get to sit down and kick back and relax as a group,” Coil says. “We get to do that in large assemblies, but it’s not really something where they can be more intimate and kind of, just about the senior class.”

As dinner winds down to a close, Kreklow, Boushard and Wipfler take the stage again, ready to unleash the various awards taking place. These awards range from everything from “Most Intelligent” and “Most Likely To Be In The Olympics”, to things like “Most Likely To Take Over The World Quietly” and “Best Shoulder To Cry On.”

“That’s why I think the banquet is so much fun,” Coil said. “Every year is different, and it fits to the personality of the class. I think that’s a pretty unique aspect.”

When the laughter dies down and the senior class is ready to move on, people leave with a good feeling.

“I think the banquet went really well,” senior Maaz Mohammed said. “It was a lot of fun seeing who won which superlatives and the food was surprisingly good also. It was a great time to spend with friends the day before graduation.”

So while technical difficulties may have interfered with the end of the year video playing, Jack Schimpf reminds the seniors that, in case they had forgotten, graduation was the next day.

By Logan Strichter