Parents of the Class of 2019

Our school sent out a letter regarding Senior pictures. They have an official photographer come to school for the formal senior pictures (for the yearbook and a collage that hangs in the hallways of each graduating class). The photo studio offers portrait packages, but I think most families go elsewhere for pictures. My SIL has a good friend who does professional photography and we've had her do other family pictures through the years, so we're planning on finding a day that she can do senior pictures for us, probably sometime this summer.

AP Calc is this morning and that's it for AP tests this year - our son is finding out more about his finals week and it sounds like it will be pretty thin, maybe only 3 exams. He might have a final or two with seniors, though, who do their finals over a couple days next week (graduation is Friday before Memorial Day).
 
Love the dress!!

We are thinking about senior pictures a little bit. My 19 year old nephew has had a little bit of a business doing them, and did DD19's. So we will definitely be using him, and probably over a few sessions. I was thinking maybe some over Memorial Day weekend while she still has her soccer uniform and can take some on the field. My mom's back yard should be in full bloom so possibly some there. At some point she wants some at the botanical center, and probably some at the local lake(s). She'll want some with fall color as well. When we're at family church camp, I'm sure she'll want some there too. She'd love to have some at WDW, but we're not taking DNephew!

Hopefully she will get a summer job at church camp and be gone 6 weeks there, in addition to a NYC choir trip and our WDW trip, so we'll have to plan around that too. Maybe she can get someone to get a decent snapshot or two in NYC that can be used.

It's nice how the homework is slacking off these last couple weeks. Still have soccer going. Last night was a JV tournament an hour and a half away, in which none of our team scored, one went to the hospital, and another may have a concussion. That's at least 4 serious injuries this season and I'm thinking about suggesting she not do this next year.
 
Our school sent out a letter regarding Senior pictures. They have an official photographer come to school for the formal senior pictures (for the yearbook and a collage that hangs in the hallways of each graduating class). The photo studio offers portrait packages, but I think most families go elsewhere for pictures. My SIL has a good friend who does professional photography and we've had her do other family pictures through the years, so we're planning on finding a day that she can do senior pictures for us, probably sometime this summer.

AP Calc is this morning and that's it for AP tests this year - our son is finding out more about his finals week and it sounds like it will be pretty thin, maybe only 3 exams. He might have a final or two with seniors, though, who do their finals over a couple days next week (graduation is Friday before Memorial Day).
Hope he does well in AP Calc. DS had it today too and AP Bio yesterday. And World History on Thursday. And an orientation for his summer job (yay!) on Thursday afternoon. We have been telling him lately how he has been a rockstar with all he is juggling right now.

I think our school does something similar with senior pictures. I plan on asking a friend who does photography as a hobby and for our summer swim team if I can hire her for his portraits.
 
@Colleen27 -she looks lovely!

But DD is ready for this end-of-year stuff

So is my DD (and her mom, too!). She has the second half of her SL IB Bio test today, End of Course Exam (FL requirement which is ridiculous since she took the AP test imho) for US History tomorrow, a final Friday, finals next Mon-Weds then we are done with Junior Year-thank goodness! Six more days- I think we can make it :)

Is anyone else thinking about senior pictures already?

Our school has them use a local photographer for the "drape" photo but any casual photos are OYO. I've already booked the photographer, hair and make up for that for right after she returns from Spain since she might have a little bit of a tan (DD is super pale even living in Florida). I really didn't want the casual senior photos but my parents insisted and who am I to argue?:rolleyes: I think she'll likely do some at the house (we have a cute trellis with flowers) plus some out at the beach.

Summer includes 100 service project (she's been putting this off for a year, now:mad:), Spain trip, Duke study trip, college tours, studying for the SAT (again, sigh), required reading for school and maybe sleeping!

in which none of our team scored, one went to the hospital, and another may have a concussion. That's at least 4 serious injuries this season and I'm thinking about suggesting she not do this next year.

That would make me nervous, too. It's hard balancing wanting to protect them yet knowing how beneficial exercise is.
 


Well, we survived prom weekend. It was crazy - the juniors plan and decorate for prom, and they couldn't get into the venue until after 2:30 because of a baby shower there that morning, so we were there at 3 to decorate and then rushing around for her to get ready before the 6pm event... not NEARLY enough time, considering that the venue was about 45 minutes from home! I somehow managed not to get ANY pictures of her on her own, only with her date and with friends, so I faded her date out of this one to share.

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We've got one AP test down - gov., which DD thought she did well on - and one more to go. Graduation is this weekend and the reception after the graduation mass is another thing that the junior class/junior parents handle, and we're spending Saturday on her senior service project (a parish vegetable garden to supply the food bank with fresh produce), so it'll be another busy weekend. But DD is ready for this end-of-year stuff - with the tests over, the AP classes turn to college application/essay prep and study hall, so her workload for the last couple weeks will be a lot lighter than it has been all year.

Is anyone else thinking about senior pictures already? DD wanted to do hers at the county fair since 4H has been such a big part of her life, but since she's going to miss it for Japan we're thinking about plan B. Most of the kids seem to do theirs over the summer or early fall, and with her gone for all of June & July she kind of wants to at least have an ideal of what we're doing about pictures before she leaves. The school is super-flexible. Some parents submit snapshots, some spend thousands on professional shoots - the only guideline is two photos of the student with no other people in the frame, one can be candid/creative and the other has to be a posed headshot, of a certain resolution that I'm pretty sure even my phone can achieve, and I'm a fairly good photographer with semi-professional equipment, so I'm game for her idea that I should do the shoot myself. But I'm idea-less for where and when! The whole thing a far cry from when I was in school and families had to use the photo studio the school selected.
She looks gorgeous! Love the dress!

I haven't heard anything about senior portraits yet, but I assume we'll hear from the school soon with a recommended studio for yearbook photos. Depending on how that goes, I'll probably buy a few studio head and shoulder shots. I've been collecting ideas on Pinterest for a while for location photos and will try my hand at taking those on my own. I've had this idea for a while that I couldn't talk my boys into. I want to do the 4 seasons of senior year. Maybe some sunflower shots this summer, some fall leaf photos in the fall, snow shots this winter and some flowering bushes in the spring. So far she's on board with the idea.

This week is kind of a lull before finals next week. She's in good shape but still needs to do well on the trig and dual credit Chemistry finals next week. She signed up for AP chemistry but converted to dual credit when they didn't have enough students enrolled. Last day is a week from Friday.

Tonight is NHS induction. Girls' State info meeting this weekend. That's in late June. Tennis practices start up while we're on vacation in early June. It's always something.
 
Haven't even thought about yearbook pictures. Spent a nice amount on my DS's 3 years ago. I guess I will spend the same for my DD. I think the school's choice of photographer was good. My DS's pictures were very nice, even though expensive.

Well, she got the summer job she really didn't want, but at least will do it one more year. Being only 16 until late summer, when turning 17, many will not hire, and have an 18 year old minimum, which she won't be until her first year of college. I wish there would be more businesses that hire younger kids, as at 16, many can drive to the job.

We don't end school until the 2nd week of June. So, finals are approaching, and I'm sure she's not ready. I know she'll be though, but the lure of driving herself where she wants, has been a big draw lately. I'm still nervous when I am in the car with her. LOL

Junior prom was okay, she didn't have much to say about it, but she looked very pretty, and her dress was perfect for her. She talks more about the Senior Prom, which is at a country club, and not the school gym, where the Junior Prom always is.

I hope all your junior high school kids have a great end of the year, and fun summer.

College visits start in a few weeks. Time does fly, oh my. :)
 
DD has 2 AP tests down, and AP Lang coming up on Thursday. She also had her biotech Symposium to show off the materials that they've created from their research projects before they get published so it now almost seems like she's able to take a breath! She has finals next week, and then leaves on the 30th for Thailand, she'll have 2 1/2 weeks home and then we'll go to Glacier National Park for a family vacation, then she'll be home for 5 days and go to Vancouver with my mom (who does a "Summer before Senior year trip with Grandmother" with every grandkid), then home for 2 weeks and off to Lake of the Ozarks before coming home to go back to school for her senior year. It's very whirlwind for her!

She wants to go sign up for lifeguarding at our rec centers. They pay really well, and the hours are very flexible so it would be perfect for her for next year, she just hasn't had the time! The hardest part is going to be finding time for school visits. It's running out on us!
 


Is anyone else thinking about senior pictures already?

Dreading them is more like it. DS did his braces late, and still has a little time to go. (We're hoping they'll be off mid-summer, but you know how vague the answers can be.) So I'm just hoping the due date is after he gets them off!!

I've had this idea for a while that I couldn't talk my boys into. I want to do the 4 seasons of senior year. Maybe some sunflower shots this summer, some fall leaf photos in the fall, snow shots this winter and some flowering bushes in the spring. So far she's on board with the idea.

I love that idea!
 
Senior pictures aren’t a thing here. There is one photographer, they send you something with your date in the summer, you are free to change it (but they don’t tell you that), drape for girls, tux for guys, cheapest package is $75 for a 5 x 7, no sitting fee. Graduation announcements aren’t big here either.

Next milestone is dd’s boyfriend’s prom. She is borrowing a dress, around here it’s over the top glitz and glam (he goes to a private all boys Catholic school, but in Bergen county, real housewives of NJ area, so I expect the same). She had a half dozen to choose from.
 
Dreading them is more like it. DS did his braces late, and still has a little time to go. (We're hoping they'll be off mid-summer, but you know how vague the answers can be.) So I'm just hoping the due date is after he gets them off!!

Oh yeah, I kind of forgot about the braces. I suppose some of her senior pics will have braces, if she does several photo sessions with her cousin starting this month. DD has been told she's getting close. Actually today she goes again and has her main ortho so hopefully he'll have news. She takes herself and won't ask them any questions. DD19 is riding along today so maybe she will ask how soon! Fingers crossed!
 
Today is the last day of classes for my Junior. One more AP test, and 2 finals, left to go, then he'll officially be a senior. Gulp!

Wow, we have almost a month to go here in Massachusetts!

DS does have a couple of electives that are mostly seniors, though - and they finish earlier - so those classes will likely ease up into "fun" (at least according the teachers :laughing: ) stuff for the last couple of weeks.
 
DS told me yesterday that his 'finals week' will really be next week. Senior finals are Monday and Tuesday, so he will be taking 4 finals with his classes that are mostly seniors (CS, Calc, Physics and Current Events). His actual finals week is not until the week of June 4th, but it turns out, it looks like he'll only have 2 or 3 finals - English, Spanish 4 and Theology.
 
Prom is over, AP tests are done. DS finishes classes at the end of May and finals are the first week of June. Heading to Model UN end of year banquet tonight.
 
Wow, we have almost a month to go here in Massachusetts!

DS does have a couple of electives that are mostly seniors, though - and they finish earlier - so those classes will likely ease up into "fun" (at least according the teachers :laughing: ) stuff for the last couple of weeks.

For us too here in Michigan.The last day of school isn't till June 15, but four of DD's seven classes are pretty much over because they are majority-senior classes and wrapped up already. The juniors in those classes are going to be working on common app essays and other getting-ready-for-college stuff from now until the end of the year.
 
AP tests are done. He said world history was easy, calc (BC) was “ok but I never feel confident about the FRQs” and bio was “pretty good.” We’ll see....He also had some training today for his summer job along with two other kids, and will have a few more hours in the next couple of weeks. He told them about his SkillsUSA week when he can’t work so that’s good. Band concert early next week and then in most classes, it’s going to be a lot of busy work until school is out (June 15). Except in world history where they have a project. Tomorrow they are picking a world event and need to debate why it’s most impactful. But the teacher is doing it like basketball brackets. DS is so psyched about this and I tease him that he’s a geek (and he smiles real big and almost cackles when I say that). So glad to see him happy, he was not psyched about this week but now testing is done. They don’t have big finals at their school.
 
New angle to research on the college front: DD now thinks she might want to be a speech & theatre teacher. Personally I would hate teaching high schoolers but it's not me! This idea has come about before, but in her experience at our school, the English teacher covered those departments. And she doesn't want to teach English. But apparently there are high schools that have a separate speech & theatre teacher. So I'm checking our list of potential schools to see if they offer the major. I don't know if she will need a Masters? She will likely attend school in Missouri, but I know tons of Iowa teachers that get their degree in Missouri so I don't think that's a problem as far as certification. One pitfall I see is that between the teaching classes and theatre and Gen Eds, there is little room for experimentation or electives and you need to dive in right away to make sure your last semester is free for student teaching.

Any other kids considering education?
 
Today was the last day of junior year. Hard to believe DD is now a senior! I'm happy (it's been a tough year) yet it's sort of bittersweet...
 

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