Senior Class President sees changes around the corner

Most senior class presidents are picked because they are portrayed in the top tier of their student body. Their characteristics are as follows: exemplary, idealistic, intelligent and overall pretty enthusiastic. When the class of 2017 hand-picked senior Libby Reid as their class president they saw all of those characteristics in her, but her optimism was what put her over the top.

Reid has one main goal that she is planning to work on within the 2016-2017 school year and she will not back down until it is accomplished. With the help of SGA president AJ Brien and the student body within the four brick walls that hold Sparkman together, she will work towards getting rid of the drama and competition between all three grades and unify them as one giant family.

“We have a lot of activities planned. AJ and I’s goal at the moment is to get the senior class super excited and hype. If you can get the senior class like that, the underclassmen will be the same way,” Reid said. “Once we have that, we want to make sure we include everybody so that it’s not just class wars again.”

In order to unite the student body Reid is planning a handful of volunteer opportunities to grab, community service and class functions that students can bond over. They can also practice key skills such as communication, reliability and cooperation.

“I can see that getting a lot of students involved outside of school in a positive way will bring them together and hopefully reflect on Sparkman in a better light,” Reid said.

Some community service opportunities will be House of the Harvest and Miracle League. They are also joining up with a nursing home to recycle the homecoming decorations. The weekend following the dance they will be taking the decorations to a nursing home and throwing them their very own “homecoming”.

”A lot of people don’t realize how easy it is to get volunteer hours,” Reid said. “It’s just the little things you have to watch out for because there are volunteer opportunities everywhere. I’m going to try and make them more known so we can get more hours as a class.”

A few of the activities that will pass their torch onto this year are obviously homecoming, the dodgeball tournament, the kindergarten Christmas show and powderpuff.

“The [homecoming] theme is Friday Night: Lights, Camera, Action. One of the themed days we’re looking into is the Espy vs. Nobel Peace Prize, which is basically athletes vs. mathletes,” Reid said. “Then we’re also having our powderpuff game that week, a lip sync battle, family feud, thursday night bonfire and the friday night game.”

Along with the old, comes the new. This year there will be a Sadie Hawkins dance and a movie on the lawn that will also include trunk or treat prior to the show that will be displayed on the football field.

“We had a Hoopcoming a few years ago and that didn’t go over so well afterwards. We’re going to try and bring something similar to it back this year. It’ll be a winter formal but instead of the traditional invitation the girls will ask the guys to be their date,” Reid said. “Girls are still going to dress up in women’s clothing and guys will still dress up in men’s.”

As a senior, graduation feels like it is inching closer and closer and it is only the third week of school. The anticipation is building and there are real world problems that need to be faced in order to tackle such a monumental event in one’s life.

“In years past, watching my brother and friends graduate, it didn’t really feel personal,” senior Madison Harding said. “When you walk across that stage and accept your diploma, you don’t want to be wearing black. Hopefully by our graduation we will have switched to crimson or burgundy.”

The movement towards a color change for the graduating class has kickstarted and it already has Mr. Shaw’s approval. It has only stopped because Reid and Brien are waiting to see the colors for themselves and get the senior class’ approval. But along with caps and gowns come more graduation accessories.

“A lot of clubs will be getting more chords just because there’s a push for them and as long as club advisors are okay with it, then we should be able to get a lot more,” Reid said.

With a lot in mind and a lot in her hands, Reid has taken charge and wants to end this school year with a class bond stronger than ever. She has got 171 days and a whole lot of optimism on her side.

“I’ve grown up with all these kids around me. Each and every one of them is more than a classmate — they’re family. I’ve always believed that the class of ‘17 was different and that’s simply because we take care of one another,” Reid said. “There’s nothing quite like that mentality.”