Tag Archives: high school

Graduation at Phillips Academy Andover

Nationality: Indian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/23/13
Primary Language: English

Informant: “At Andover, graduation is a big thing because, so tradition-wise it always, you lead the gradu—blue key heads, which I’ll explain in a sec, lead and, they lead and, uh, end the graduation procession and, uh, the graduation procession follows bagpipers so we have a full band of bagpipers and this is apparently like school tradition since 1778 that a full team of Scottish bagpipers starts off graduation and I hated it. And then we all—“

Lavelle: Did they wear kilts?

Informant: “What? Yeah, they were wearing full Scottish dress and they played the bagpipes. And so then we follow them and then, um, blue key heads, so then, oh and then for ours– so we go throughout the whole graduation ceremony and then what happens is our graduation, instead of people being called up, we all stand in a circle. So the entire grade, and we have like 330 people, you have 330 people standing in a circle and when they call out your name for your diploma, your diploma’s handed down the circle. So it’s passed down through each of your friends’ hands until it reaches you. Um, which was really cool because  a) it went really fast because you didn’t have to wait for people to go by, so that was great, it went really quickly. Second, and then it was cool because, like, all your friends were passing it to you and then, like, everyone could celebrate as you got your diploma and you were all standing in this circle. And then when you all got your diploma you all stood in the circle for, like, a couple minutes and, like, appreciated that you were standing with your class for the last time. Um, and then the blue key heads run in the middle and learn– er, lead everybody in a round of, like, school cheers and then we break the circle.”

 

My informant was a graduate of Phillips Academy Andover with the class of 2011. This is an important memory for my informant as she greatly enjoyed her high school experience and looks back on her years at Andover fondly.

High school graduation is an important rite of passage for all adolescents and every high school has its own traditions that its students enjoy. High school graduation is often the last time students will be together with their class and can be a bittersweet experience. This is just one example of a unique graduation ceremony.

For more information about Andover graduation:

http://www.andover.edu/StudentLife/Commencement/Pages/default.aspx

Blue Key Heads

Informant: “Blue key heads are this tradition where we’re like spirit leaders and, um, we… It’s, there’s ten, five boys, five girls, um, it’s picked through an incredibly nepotistic process that is basically half popularity contest, um, it– that’s just how it is and so, um, all five boys and five girls wore skirts, uh, blue skirts that are passed down every year so that’s a big tradition, is, like, who you get your skirt from and who you pass your skirt to is like a big deal, um, and so the blue key heads are at every varsity game in the fall, um, and a lot of varsity games in the spring and we, like, cheer except for basketball we, we cheer, but we—the step team is what mostly did that so, yeah. And so we, like, show up and we cheer and it’s not like cheerleading it’s mostly like running around and painting your face, um, and it’s really cool and we lead a pep rally which is fun, uh, and the, uh, what was I gonna say? There’s, uh, the way the blue key heads are chosen is this, like, big school thing, tradition where you have to audition in front of the entire sc— like in front of school during, like, either lunch or during dinner. So you have to round up all your friends and you have to do, like, a public audition which is, like, you have to do push-ups—oh also everytime the football team scores we have to do push-ups for the number of points we have. So if we get into, like, 50 points we have to do, like, 50 push ups and it’s awful, um, I couldn’t do it. And so, um, so have to do push-ups, you have to, like, throw gummy sharks into a cup. You have to serenade—you always have to serenade someone. You always have to do a bunch of cheers. You have to name all previous 10 blue key heads. You have to name 10 shades of blue. Um, they’ll ask you, like, random questions to see how long you could, like, go without breaking. One of them, the best one that I had was mak- you literally sit there and you just say make me laugh and somebody has to try and make you laugh and its wonderful because there are just certain people who can’t, won’t break. And, um, so that was really good. And so it’s this, like, terrible process and then there’s always, like, a big secret, the, only the blue key heads– the new– only the new blue key heads know how they got, how they find out. Like, it’s a big secret how they find out that they’re blue key heads. So, like, my year we were told that there was a second secret audition and so we came and they actually put us through an audition and then told us, ‘Just kidding you’re the blue key heads.’ Um…”

Lavelle: “They do it differently every year?”

Informant: “Yeah, they do it differently, well because, like, it kind of gets, it’s, like, you know, just to make sure that it doesn’t get out, um, but it’s usually pretty secret in terms of, like, people just suddenly find out and suddenly, like “Oh, they announced it apparently.” And, like, and no one can figure out how they told the people, um, so that’s pretty cool.”

My informant is a graduate of Phillips Academy Andover with the class of 2011. She was one of the blue key heads during her senior year at Andover. This is an important memory for my informant as she greatly enjoyed her high school experience and looks back on her years at Andover fondly.

The idea of appointed spirit leaders is not unique to Andover and many high school students enjoy experiences similar to those of my informant.

Birdman

Nationality: Indian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/23/13
Primary Language: English

My informant told me about this game called Birdman while she was sharing about traditions at Scarsdale High School.

“I don’t know if other schools did this, but it was a game that started. And you basically do this, like, birdman (She holds her hands to her face, palms down, with her thumbs and index fingers making circles around her eyes) symbol over your eyes and if you quote in quote Birdman someone, they have to lie down on the ground for three seconds. And this was, like, a pretty harmless thing that started, but it just started to happen everywhere. So if you’d Birdman, like, you could– there were, like, ways to block a birdman and then, like, if you didn’t respond, you’d get blacklisted. There was, like, a comput—there was, like, an online blacklist for, like, who was blacklisted from Birdman. But seniors especially would take this really intensely and so, like, you, if you got Birdmanned, they would stop in the middle of everything and just get down on the floor for 3 seconds. And it was so intense that you could Birdman someone while driving, while they were driving and they would have to stop the car, get out of the car, lie down on the ground, and get back into the car. Um, and even teachers started to play. I think our librarian was, like, notorious for doing it, like, if you Birdmanned him in the library he’d get down on the ground.”

This was a game that my informant participated in during her freshman year of high school. She says it wasn’t something she was particularly interested in, but many of her friends were very into it. She played if she had to. This is a funny memory for my informant. She looks back on this game and can’t believe the students enjoyed it so much.

Spirit Day

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/20/13
Primary Language: English

My informant graduated in 2011 from Notre Dame Academy Girl’s High School in West Los Angeles, California. She currently attends UCLA in Westwood, California. Notre Dame Academy, often called NDA, is a Catholic, all girls school with many traditions the students participate in annually. My informant told me about the one she considers most exciting and memorable: NDA Day.

“So, NDA day is basically, like, our spirit day, um, except maybe a bit more involved than at some other schools. Um and, okay so, it starts off with a mass, because it’s a celebration of our Lady, ‘Notre Dame.’ Um, and at this mass all the girls are required to wear full dress uniform, um which just basically means you have to wear your red plaid skirt rather than the khaki one, um, a white blouse, your blazer, and nice shoes. Like, no tennis shoes. Um, and sometimes girls will put a bit more effort into the way they look, than they would on a normal day. Um so some girls will like wear make-up or straighten their hair or whatever. Um but then there’s a mass. Um, a Catholic mass. And afterwards, while we’re still in the gym. Oh, uh, we do mass in the gym because our chapel isn’t big enough for the whole school. Um, but anyway, after the mass, the spirit stuff starts. Um, so basically the freshmen get up first, and they’re all sitting in the same area and they have some girls who were appointed, like, cheerleaders who go to the podium, and they scream and spell out their grade level, so F-R-E-S-H-M-E-N, uh and then they bang on the chairs and scream really loudly and stuff. Um, but then the sophomores go, and the freshmen realize that the spell out doesn’t just have to be a chant, because all the other grade levels also have like a rhyme or a song to go with their theme. Oh, and each grade has a theme for the day and it’s usually supposed to be an alliteration with their grade level, like FBI Freshmen, Supernova Seniors, you know, things like that. Um so after that, each grade is dismissed back to their classrooms and all the girls change into costumes or crazy outfits or whatever—oh and also, each class has a color that they have all four years, um, so you’re either red, green, blue, or purple. And the grades incorporate their color into what they’re wearing on NDA day. So, once everyone’s dressed, um, you go out into the parking lot to take a picture with your class and the poster someone in your grade designed, or something. Uh, and once everyone’s taken a picture, there’s a sort of parade. Um, where we walk around the perimeter of our school and go to the little school, um, the elementary school, and the elementary kids are outside and you, like, high-five and stuff. And that whole time you’re basically, like, cheering the cheers your class made up to go with your theme or just your graduation year or something. Um, and you’re taking lots of pictures, like lots and lots of pictures, like not just during the parade but during the entire day. It’s a pretty memorable event. So then after the parade, we all go back into our gym and play volleyball. Um, each grade level has a team and the rule is that no varsity, uh actually, no school players can play on the NDA day volleyball team. Um, you can be a coach, but you can’t play. So it’s not really all that competitive. But the matches are that you play your sister class, so juniors play freshmen and seniors play sophomores and then the two winners play each other and then the winner of that match plays the faculty. So that’s pretty fun. If you’re not playing, you just stand on the side and scream and stuff. And do cheers. There’s a lot of cheering. Um, and after the volleyball game they provide us with lunch. Um, and then after that, it’s time for the skits. Uh, so each class has to do a skit and a dance. Usually they try to incorporate the dance into the skit. So it’s, like, in the middle or something. And the faculty do a skit also, which is usually pretty hilarious. Um and each class gets 5 minutes, I think, maybe 10, I can’t remember. But the seniors definitely get more. Probably like 20 minutes. And that’s because seniors also get to make a video, which usually comes out pretty good. And it’s all just supposed to be, like, silly and funny. So then whatever time is left in the day they’ll just put, like, music on in the gym and turn it into a dance party, basically. But there’s usually not much time so you just go back to class. And that’s it. Oh and then, uh, you get the day after off of school, which is nice. Because NDA day is exhausting.”

My informant enjoyed this spirit day quite a bit and cites it as one of the things she misses about high school. Spirit days are a common occurrence in many high schools, but every school does it differently.

Junior Ring Ceremony

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/20/13
Primary Language: English

My informant described a yearly ceremony at her high school, Notre Dame Academy, Junior Ring Ceremony. This ceremony takes place at the end of the fall semester each year. This is when junior receive their class rings. Students do not have to purchase a traditional class ring, any ring is fine. Generally, students try to get rings with stones in their class color (red, blue, purple, or green). This ceremony is really only for juniors and their families. It’s at night and the girls are required to dress up and look nice. It consists of some short speeches from classmates and faculty, a song sung by the class, and the presentation of the rings. After the rings are given out, girls are supposed to get their rings turned 100 plus the year of your graduation times, so if you graduated in 2011, you needed to get your ring turned 111 times. Each time someone turns a ring, they’re asked to make a wish for the girl. The last turn is supposed to be saved for someone special, probably someone the student admires or who has been influential in her life.

My informant graduated in 2011 from Notre Dame Academy Girl’s High School in West Los Angeles, California. She currently attends UCLA in Westwood, California. Notre Dame Academy, often called NDA, is a Catholic, all girls school with many traditions the students participate in annually. My informant told me about one that every girl looks forward to as the ring ceremony is a reminder that senior year is approaching quickly. This ring ceremony seems rather unique to NDA, but I have heard of some other high schools have formal presentations of class rings.