Student Council Members Sam Nixon and Olivia Burroughs propose the senior release to Watauga High School’s department chairs. Photo submitted by WHS Student Council.
Beginning immediately after the Thanksgiving holiday break, Watauga seniors were introduced to a new privilege: the senior release. Seniors will now be permitted to leave school three minutes early at the end of the day, at 3:27 p.m., allowing them to exit the parking lot before being caught in typical after-school traffic.
The idea was first introduced by Watauga’s Student Council, who campaigned for the policy. Two Student Council representatives, Student Body Treasurer Sam Nixon and Student Body Secretary Olivia Burroughs, brought the idea to Watauga High School Principal Scott Strickler at one of StuCo’s regular meetings with administration. According to Strickler, Nixon and Burroughs informed him that many seniors would be interested in receiving an additional privilege and that the pair wanted to discuss a slightly early release as a potential solution.
“They said, ‘we would like to get out three minutes early, and it’s just for seniors,’” Strickler reported. “I said, ‘Okay! That’s not a decision I’m going to make by myself, but I’d love for part or all of Student Council to come talk to our department chairs.’”
Burroughs and Nixon then attended a meeting with the department chairs, where they gave a persuasive presentation. The chairs voted on the idea after the meeting.
According to Strickler, “The conversation after StuCo members left was ‘Hey! That was really impressive!’ [Nixon and Burroughs] didn’t just say ‘we want this.’ They gave solid reasoning, and they had a presentation that’s going to be shared with staff.”
Nixon and Burroughs featured information in their presentation including the impact the senior release would have on reducing traffic congestion at the end of the school day and the ways other schools have implemented senior releases.
“They brought together schools in the region, schools of the same size, and schools of the same academic aptitude. They took it from multiple different angles. You could tell there was some time and intention,” said Strickler. “They really knocked it out of the park.”
Olivia Burroughs described the process of researching an ideal solution as a rigorous one, but she and Nixon accomplished it due to their motivation to serve their senior class. Staff agreed that their thoroughness led to a well-developed proposal.
“We called three other schools and we researched five,” Burroughs said. “We looked at schools that had similar demographics to us: similar locations, similar parking lot structures, and similar student body size. Most of [their bells] were between three and five minutes [early].”
Sydnee Bryant, senior, has enjoyed the benefits of the release since its implementation after Thanksgiving.
“The senior release benefits me by letting me get home fifteen minutes faster than without the bell,” said Bryant. “I don’t get stuck in traffic, and the people that leave later also don’t have as much traffic because one-fourth of the student body is not in the line.”
Not every senior that leaves school at 3:30 p.m. can take advantage of those extra 3 minutes, however. For seniors who drive younger siblings home after school, nothing has changed.
“I have a younger sibling, so I have to wait until 3:30 p.m. for my brother to get out to my car, and then, I’m stuck in traffic,” said senior Luke Peays.
Despite the inconvenience for students like Luke, Student Council has demonstrated the power of student advocacy to benefit the student body. Olivia Burroughs emphasized StuCo’s eagerness to work with other students to improve the Watauga experience for everyone.
“If you have an idea and you bring it to Student Council, we are listening and we do make it a priority to get it to administration, get it talked about, or find a way to solve whatever issue you feel like is prevalent or needs to be addressed,” Burroughs said.
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