Following the tradition of senior shirts, the class of 2023, using the theme “Summer Smash”, created a shirt that struck controversy among the class. Many students, unhappy with the initial design, began making and selling private designs. 

The tradition of senior shirts started about 10 years ago when class color shirts were first instituted to avoid conflict during class color day. The original idea for a separate senior shirt was created to support the specific charity being donated to during homecoming week. This year that would have been Cal’s Angel, a charity for pediatric cancer but the selected theme did not reflect that.

“I hate saying the word, but we missed some school because of a little illness going around. We lost that idea of the seniors being connected to the charity and doing something for the community,” said Vice Principal Brent Gagnon

Additionally, because the shirt this year was rushed it didn’t go through the same approval process as previous shirts. This means that the shirt made it through with a grammatical error and some copyright issues needing to be fixed. With the initial shirt not meeting the sales quota a new shirt was chosen, designed by NAHS president Kate Kasper.

“I never really expected my design to go as far as to get changed to the official design” said Kate Kasper “ I made it because I was unhappy with the original and because I thought that they should have gone through the art department for the design in the first place.”

The finalized design was agreed upon and ordered by the senior class. It still followed the initial theme but had corrections regarding copyright and grammar issues. With some other designs still being worn during class color day, the ultimate goal of creating a unified senior shirt was for the most part successful, allowing for a spirit-filled Homecoming week.