Besides not having to wear pantyhose at graduation, more changes will be coming to end-of-the-year senior activities. The annual senior banquet for scholarship recipients has been moved to Gym 2.

In the past, hosting the event at the VBC cost approximately $12,000, with individual tickets running at $30 apiece. Additional funding came from prom money, but due to a shrinking budget, that was not an option this year.

“I talked to some people and we researched it to try to find some other sites to host [the senior banquet] and no other sites were available. UAH was free, but they could only accommodate 500 people, I think,” principal Mike Campbell said.

Because he believes the one-night event was far too expensive in the past, Campbell opted to relocate the event to the school. He has only received a handful of negative comments regarding the change, but people are happy because they can bring more people for free.

“In 34 years, we’ve always had the senior awards ceremony at the school. Of course, I always had a nice auditorium to be able to do it in, but the senior awards ceremony has always been in the school,” Campbell said.

Senior Angela Nguyen is concerned that the event’s formality will be lost in the venue change, causing a less intimate atmosphere.

“It’s not even a banquet anymore, it’s an awards ceremony. I think it will be really crowded with everyone’s parents, but hopefully it will be organized,” Nguyen said.