YSNews_2024_SeniorTabloid

CLASS OF 2024 CLAPOUT, PARADE AND COMMENCEMENT SENIOR CLAPOUT will be held on Friday, May 17, at 3:15 p.m. Families are welcome to join at the high school. SENIORS ’ F INAL DAY is Monday, May 20. Students will participate in a mandatory gradu- ation rehearsal from 8:30-10 a.m. Senior picnic to follow graduation practice. THE PARADE , weather permit- ting, will commence Thursday, May 23, at 6:15 p.m. from the high school parking lot, and be escorted by the YS Police, traveling the fol- lowing route: from Yellow Springs High School down West South Col- lege Street; left on Xenia Avenue; left on Corry Street; left on Dayton Street; a final left on East Enon Road to return to Yellow Springs High School around 6:45 p.m. GRADUAT ION for Yellow Springs High School seniors will be held Thursday, May 23 , beginning at 7 p.m. in the Yellow Springs High School gym. VIOLET BABB PARENTS/GUARDIANS: Janet Mueller and Mark Babb In my mind, home has only ever meant one thing, Yellow Springs. My summers growing up were spent biking to my friends’ houses and knocking on their doors, hoping they were home. I was given independence at such a young age, an opportunity that was only pos- sible through living in YS. Growing up here taught me how to truly be myself and to appreciate others doing the same. Living here means I am surrounded by support and often feel like the whole town is rooting for me. More than anything I am forever grateful for the friends I made along the way. Being in such a small class, navigating friendships can be dif- ficult. There isn’t an option to avoid anyone ever. While that was difficult at times, I think it pushed me to talk through any issues I had with people, encouraging stronger bonds. Next year I plan to leave the bubble that is YS to attend The Ohio State University. Though the change is big (just 10,000 more people than my current class), I know so many people are stand- ing behind me. I want to thank my mom, dad and brother for being the best family a girl could ask for. Class of 2024, now is our time, and I’m so excited to see what all of you accomplish. As a former Mills Lawn Bulldog News host, there’s only one way I could dream of ending this: B-U-L-L-D-O-G-S BULLDOGS ARE THE BEST! BRADY BAKER I just want to thank my mom, dad, coaches and teammates for helping me navigate my way through my high school years, and helping me grow into a better man. HELEN BALES I’ve gone to the Yellow Springs schools from kindergarten to my senior year, excluding seventh grade. I’ve grown up in this town and with these people, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love it. The 2024 senior class is, in my opinion, one of the tightest-knit grades in the last few years. It feels silly, but I genuinely cannot express how much of an impact every single person in my class has had on me, big or small, and how just I just love them. Whether I’m laughing at their jokes in class or crying over receiving 27 lollipops at Valentine’s, I’m never not feeling so lucky that this is the group I enrolled with at Mills Lawn. It’s so strange to imag- ine going into the rest of my life without these familiar faces around me. The main reason I even came back to the YS schools for eighth grade was because of the people. Although, I do love other par ts of the YS schools, like how none of us will ever be phased by a bat indoors, or the constant gas leak jokes whenever someone burns popcorn downstairs. This year I had the oppor tunity to stage-manage two YSHS theater productions, “She Kills Monsters” and “The Addams Family.” I went to ever y single rehearsal for both shows, taking diligent notes on everything the actors did, and when we moved into performance venues, I made sure the tech crew and actors knew what they were doing where and when. It’s difficult to describe just how much of my life these shows took up, and how much time and energy I poured into them. I’m so incred- ibly proud of everyone involved in the theater in any way, and I am so proud to have been involved in the few productions I was. I’ve always been afraid of change, and this is the largest I’ve ever experienced. However, I will face it head on, because if I’ve learned anything over my whole 18 years of life, it’s that the most important thing is to move forward. It sounds hard, but all you have to do is breathe and put one foot infront of the other. In the future, I will be attending Shenan- doah University, with an undecided major. I didn’t mean to write this much. 2 YELLOW SPR I NGS H I GH SCHOOL C L A S S O F 2 0 2 4 A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE YE L LOW SPR I NGS NEWS | MAY 17 , 2024 AC Service Company Bentino’s Pizza of Yellow Springs Black Pug Bike Repair, Chris Worrell O U R S P O N S O R S