Every year, the up and coming senior class lets the school know that the following year belongs to them; this event is known as senior takeover. During this time, seniors decorate the school in their class’s colors, play music for the high school to hear, give out snacks, and most importantly, create excitement for an amazing year to come. However, with all the hustle and bustle, multiple Israel trips, AP Exams, and SATs, the class of 2023 was not able to execute a true senior takeover as the rest of the grades weren’t in school. The reason behind this event is to let the school know who the rising seniors are, but it would make little to no sense to take over the school with no other grades present to witness this tradition. Therefore, it was decided that senior takeover would happen in the first week of the 2022-2023 school year. 

On Sunday, August 21 from 12pm to 2pm the new senior class started to decorate Scheck Hillel in their pink and orange colors. While others were at the beach, seniors were working hard under the summer heat, blowing balloons, moving desks, and preparing the school with banners stating “Lucky us, we’re seniors!” Although decorating the school was the main purpose of this time, during these 2 hours, the senior class took up the opportunity to bond with each other. Once the clock struck 2pm, the seniors left to enjoy the rest of their Sunday and the school was finally ready for the introduction of the new senior class. 

Monday morning, students entered the school at 8:00 am and were greeted by the new seniors with goodie bags that consisted of class of 2023 sunglasses and various snacks. The whole school was finally seeing the new seniors in their designated senior shirts. Although the day started early, it would not be until bagel break where people would really experience the celebration. Music, donuts, pictures, and a swarm of kids welcomed everyone in the High School Circle. For some, it was a distraction from their action packed day, but for others such as Tali Lancewicki, a Scheck Hillel 11th Grader these acts filled their day with happiness. Tali claims, “Because it was Monday, I was not feeling too well prior to coming to school. However, after I saw the school decorated with its orange and pink colors, along with the music during bagel break, my day turned out to be enjoyable,” which is what the seniors were hoping to accomplish.

Not only does senior takeover alert the school that the new seniors are in town, but it also gives the senior class a chance to utilize this time in order to come together as one. As Jaime Mizrahi, a Senior at Scheck Hillel says, “Personally, being together with everybody, working together as a team, and enjoying the day as a grade formulated a sense of unity between us… I really loved that.” This was another goal the seniors had in mind when planning out this fabulous day. 

There are some people who deserve special recognition as they worked extremely hard to make this day perfect: Oded Karavini, Mr. Ben Thompson, and Principal Johnson all contributed to making this day special and one to remember. Without the help of these three people, none of this would have been possible and this day would not have been nearly as special. Last year, many of the rising seniors were questioning whether senior takeover would even be worthwhile; today, it was proven once again that this wonderful tradition is beneficial not only for the senior class but for the school as a whole.