Highland held their annual Boat Dance on May 19th, on a boat at Harriet Island. As there were many students attending the dance, it was suggested that students show up earlier to wait in line to get on the boat. To be able to get on the boat, students needed their student ID and ticket.

From the outside, the boat was very long and big, having two sides connected together. One side of the boat was bigger and was known as the dance room. The other side was for karaoke. The boat had two levels; both levels had tables and chairs for people to sit on and hang out. On both sides of the boat, there was food, drinks, and candy, which you had to pay for, but water was offered for free.

The boat left around 7:40pm when everyone had boarded the boat. The boat then headed up the Mississippi River for about an hour and a half, and then headed back to the dock.

There were many students in the dance room. People in the dance room were all huddled and dancing near where the DJ was at. Everyone was dancing was jumping, yelling and screaming, to the songs, which made the room very humid.

There weren’t as many people in the karaoke room compared to the dance room. Everyone was allowed to sing whichever song they wanted to sing, as long as it was appropriate.

Also, for the students that didn’t sing or dance, most of them messed around and ran around the boat. Others just sat down with their friends and talked, some were on their phones checking social media, and others were on their phones playing a game.

As the dance came to an end, everyone went outside and waited until the boat stopped at the dock. We got back around 10:05pm. Everyone looked tired and cold due to the chilly wind. Some parents were already there waiting for their kids, while some students had to wait for their ride.

On Tuesday, May 23, Highland had its annual Honors assembly for underclassmen. The assembly was held to recognize the 9th, 10th and 11th grade students who had kept up good grades throughout the year. A student with a GPA of 3.3- 3.7 is considered an Honors student and a student with a GPA of 3.8 or higher is considered a High Honors student.

All the Honors students were directed to the field house to pick up their Honors certificate. Meanwhile students, parents, and principals gathered in the auditorium around 8:00 am. The orchestra here at Highland played, while people were being seated. By 8:30 the auditorium was almost completely full.

The assembly started with Dr. Tucker and Mr. Sager addressing parents and students about the importance of their education. Ruwayda Egal gave a speech before the Honors freshmen were called on stage to be recognized. Next the freshmen High Honors students were called to the stage.

Arianna Gonzalez gave a monologue about the importance of education and pushing yourself, and was followed by the sophomore Honors students being called on stage to be recognized. Then the sophomore High Honors students.

Finally, Henry Vazquez gave a speech about the community that this year’s juniors have formed together. The junior Honors were called on stage followed by the junior High Honors.

After all the students were called on stage, Dr. Tucker said a few more words about the importance of education, then everyone went to the field house for cookies.

The seniors have a separate honors night in the auditorium on Wednesday, May 31, at 7:00 pm.

Friday, May 5th, 2017, was Highland Park’s prom, located at the beautiful Landmark Center. The theme for this year was “Una Noche Inolvidable” which translates to “An Unforgettable Night.” Since prom was on Cinco de Mayo, the people of the prom committee wanted to embrace the special day.

Around 400 people showed up to the event, and everyone looked amazing; so did the decorations. There was of course a table set up filled with snacks and drinks such as: jamaica, water, chips and bean dips, as well as candy from Dulcemex. Ms. Becker, the prom committee leader/teacher, had decided on decorating the tables with vases of bright and colorful flowers such as red and orange flowers.

Aside from the wonderful decorations and food, they also had a little photo booth in the corner of the room; everybody loved it and couldn’t stop going back in for more.

Now, the music of course is very important when it comes to prom, it helps set the mood, and this year we incorporated plenty of reggaeton, bachata and much more to try and stick to the theme. Plenty of people came out onto the dance floor and danced the night away.

I think it’s safe to say that prom 2017 was most definitely an unforgettable night.

This past week at Highland Park Senior High, from Monday the 17th to Friday the 21st, was Diversity Week, as organized by the students of our Gender-Sexuality Alliance.

(The GSA meets Wednesdays after school in Ms. Ostendorf’s room, if anyone is interested in joining.)

The Day of Silence is usually an international day solely focused on raising awareness for silenced members of the LGBTQ+ community. However, due to the success of the event in the past, and because of the wonderful diversity of our school, the students organizing it made the decision to expand it into a full week, covering other kinds of diversity and culminating in the Day of Silence.

Each day, leading up to Friday, was dedicated to a different kind of diversity, with an associated color for participating students to wear:

• Monday was gender diversity day, with red
• Tuesday was ability diversity day, with blue
• Wednesday was sexuality diversity day, with green
• Thursday was race diversity day, with purple
• Friday, as the Day of Silence, didn’t really have a dedicated color, but students were encouraged to wear white and/or black if they were participating

Friday, then, was the Day of Silence, dedicated to people of all walks of life who are discriminated against and silenced. Many Highland Park students signed up for the day, and were given bright orange pieces of paper explaining why they were silent. They were also given the chance to write on a long roll of paper explaining why they were silent. There was also an option to buy a pin, for support, for twenty-five cents.

The students who organized the event also created a video, recording the voices of dozens of people talking about why they were going to be silent for the day. Though participants were not excused from giving presentations, and similar projects, that were already scheduled, they could hold up the pieces of paper to explain their silence if called on in class.