With the new school year in full swing, it is always exciting to see what the new senior theme will be. The themes are picked by seniors through a voting system. It is very common for the theme to be inspired by movies, TV shows, and books from the seniors' childhoods. During my freshman year, the theme was “Peanuts,” sophomore year was “Spider-Man,” and now, in my junior year, the senior theme is “Cars.”
With the Senior BBQ that took place on Oct. 23 and painting of the senior quad, which has aspects of the theme interwoven in it, I thought it would be a perfect time to provide a catalog of ideas for future themes.
Firstly, I think a great idea would be “High School Musical.” This movie is a cult classic that many of us grew up watching. The senior quad could be decorated with paintings of basketballs for Troy, math equations for Gabriella, as well as some theater elements like red curtains or the classic comedy and tragedy masks for the overall theme of a musical. If any letters needed to be painted or printed, it could be done in the traditional “High School Musical” font with all capital letters made to look like the light up signs you would see on Broadway. If done correctly, I think this is an extraordinary idea as it has elements for everyone to enjoy as well as a touch of nostalgia.
Speaking of nostalgia, other shows and movies that are not only a blast-to-the-past but are also well-loved are “Finding Nemo,” “Wonder Pets,” “Curious George,” and "Garfield." All of these shows and movies correspond with such great memories for many upperclassmen. I also think there are so many elements of these shows/movies that could be integrated into our school. For instance, an underwater theme would obviously work great for "Finding Nemo” and for the other kid shows listed, adding elements like the characters and items from the show would be amazing.
Another really cool idea is “Star Wars.” Even if you haven't watched it, it’s very well-known and a staple in pop culture. There are so many elements from these movies that could be involved in activities that make it a great pick. For example, at rallies, there could be an activity where there are two seniors pulled from the crowd, dressed in cloaks, and given pool noodles associated with the colors of lightsabers. One person would get a blue pool noodle to represent the light side and the other a red one to represent the dark side. Then they could play a game of lightsaber tag and the first person to get touched loses. You can see examples on YouTube of how successful lightsaber fights are during rallies. There are many other elements that could also be integrated into the school. For instance, characters like Chewbacca, Yoda, C-3PO, and R2-D2 could be painted throughout the senior quad and easily added to the senior class shirts.
Other well-loved franchises that would be really cool to see are “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” "Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Percy Jackson.” There are so many ways to make these themes work, which you can look for inspiration on a plethora of websites like Pinterest, Google, and even TikTok.
Although I like all of the amazing ideas I’ve listed already, my personal favorites are “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Percy Jackson.”
With “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” the senior quad could incorporate the simple stick figure characters as well as crumpled pieces of paper and even the little slice of contagious cheese on the asphalt. Also, for the senior shirts, it could be in the same font as Rodrick’s “Löded Diper” shirt and use a play on words by replacing the Rodrick part of the phrase “Rodrick Rules” with the word “Seniors.”
For “Percy Jackson,” the options are endless. The senior shirts could say “Camp Canyon Cowboys” in the same font and style as the “Camp Half-Blood” t-shirts in the franchise. In addition, the senior quad could have different Greek gods painted on each bench like Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Athena, and more. The quad could also incorporate elements from the books and Greek mythology stories like the gods’ symbols, Annabeth's invisibility cap, a pegasus, or blue candies.
Overall, I am so excited to see my senior year theme and can only hope that it is good!
