On Friday May 5th, the Class of 2023 had their last day of school, as they embarked on their month-long trip to Poland and Israel on May 7th. Every year on the seniors’ last day, the school holds the Passing of the Torch ceremony, where a torch is passed from the senior class to the junior class, signifying the change in leadership and power from one grade to another. Furthermore, this ritual signifies an important transition for the junior to rise as they become the new seniors. 

According to junior Aidan Cohen this time is bittersweet, as it is sad seeing the seniors leave and continue onto the next phase in their life. However, she believes the junior class is well suited to take the reins. She shares, “I’m friends with a good amount of seniors so it is going to be sad to not see them for a month but mostly it is bittersweet seeing them go off on the trip that sort of marks the end of high school for them. I feel happy for them as well because they are going to have an amazing experience and have come too far to have the reward of that experience” She continues by stating “it will take a minute to adjust but I think that we [the junior class] have great leaders and ultimately we will adapt and do amazing things for this school as we move into being the senior class.” Furthermore she believes that due to the natural leaders in the Class of 2024, next year will be fun but also impactful. 

 Similarly Dori Smith, junior, shares the same sadness as Cohen saying, “when the seniors leave I am going to cry, especially at Passing of the Torch. I am close with a lot of the seniors and it is just going to feel very weird at school without them.” However Smith feels that once the seniors leave there will be a lot of pressure and responsibilities placed on the Junior class, as they will be the oldest. She is nervous how this pressure will affect the Junior class, explaining,  “it is going to be so different because we [the junior class] are gonna be the oldest grade in the school now, and I feel like it puts a lot of responsibility on us to be role models for the other grades. It is also scary knowing that this is like a preview of going into senior year next year and knowing we basically only have one year left with each other.”

Ultimately, as the school year comes to an end, and the Class of 2024 becomes the new seniors, it is up to them how they decide to lead and be a role model for the rest of the student body, and the Emery community cannot wait to see what the Class of 2024 does as the schools new leaders.