Benny Scheinmann
School News Editor
As the end of the school year and graduation approaches, many seniors reflect on their crazy year and have lots of advice for younger Barrack students. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the seniors did not have the final year that they expected. However, instead of letting that get them down, the seniors pulled through and had an incredible conclusion to their Barrack experience. Ben Beal commented on the conclusion of school saying, “Socializing this year in school was incredibly refreshing as opposed to the prior year’s loneliness.” An example of how they were able to enjoy such a difficult senior year was through the 12th grade ”Shishi” or “Sixth Day”, a relaxing day off from regular classes. During that Friday the seniors had no formal learning. Instead, senior volunteers ran activities at school all day. The Shishi allowed the senior class to bond through fun activities such as tie-dying and an array of kehila (community) games. Another example of what they did as a grade, was the first COVID field trip, a community service opportunity. This trip created positive role models for inner-city children who live in poverty and were possibly misguided by violent unrest in their neighborhoods. The seniors went to Blain Elementary in Philadelphia to assist underprivileged children. This community service opportunity was a huge success.
On June 15th, the seniors will finally graduate. Unlike last year, this graduation will be held on the turf field, very likely with a mask requirement. Although the graduation will still be different from pre-pandemic years, for example, sitting only with their families, and only being allowed to invite a limited number of guests, nevertheless, seniors are very excited, especially graduation speaker Noah Frisch. Noah is “so excited for graduation. It’s the culmination of so much hard work, so many hours of grinding. I can’t wait to get up there and give the speech of the century to all my friends and family.“
After being at Barrack for so long, seniors have a great deal of advice for younger students. Ilan Gordon says the most important thing to remember is “how quick time goes by and to enjoy the times you have with your friends, rather than stress about work.” Similarly, Ronen Adler, when asked about his reflections on his time at Barrack, said that the pandemic made him “appreciate being with other people, so it has made us try and make senior year as normal as possible just by being together.” Although a terrible pandemic, COVID-19 made many people understand and appreciate things they used to take for granted but could not do this year.
With seniors heading to a new chapter in their lives, hopefully they can use some of their own advice and cherish every moment, because just like Ronen Adler says, “It'll be gone just like that.”