The following editorial compiles the viewpoint of the Mentor Editorial Staff based on a discussion about the topic. 

Pep rallies, sporting events, after-school clubs, elective classes. All of these things are activities that everyone in the student body can choose to partake in. 

With the shutdown due to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, all these activities saw a decrease in the number of participants. Even now, two and a half years later, with COVID seemingly behind us, the numbers still haven’t gone back to what they were previously. 

The Editorial staff feels that all these activities are important to the “high school experience,” and even if someone doesn’t want to do a sport, they could join a club, or take more elective classes. 

High school can be a time to express yourself and find out who you are, sports and clubs are a great way to do both. Having something to do besides all your school work can be a great outlet for everyone. A big part of being part of the student body is participating and supporting your school. 

This year’s senior class, the class 2023, is the last class to experience a “normal” high school year before this one. That means that once they graduate, every class after them won’t have the experiences of past traditions. Changing things around is okay but keeping some of the traditions going is good too. 

The Editorial Staff feels that everyone should take time to try to participate in something involved with the school, whether that be joining a club, attending a sporting event, joining a new elective next semester, or trying out a new sport. 

Even though high school doesn’t determine your whole life, these four years are still important to students’ lives and doing activities outside of credit classes can help students grow as human beings and is an important part of carrying on high school traditions.