Honoring the Class of 2026 and Lunenburg Senior Week Traditions

By:Madison Lane

Residents of the town of Lunenburg are accustomed to many unique traditions. Whether it is the homecoming float parade, tree lighting, or Shrieks and Crieks at The Club, this town is full of distinctive customs. For the students at Lunenburg High, senior week is one of the most anticipated events of the year. This year, senior week will begin June first and last until June fifth; however there are no events scheduled for the first or fifth. This week is full of activities that are exciting and eagerly expected for many of these students. The week will kick off with its Baccalaureate celebration on June second. For those who participate, Baccalaureate is a welcoming spiritual gathering that invites priests and pastors from local churches to create an inclusive service. The gathering is open to all Lunenburg seniors, not just those currently graduating from Lunenburg High, as well as students of all religious and spiritual beliefs. Although the Baccalaureate is not a school related event, many students find it to be a meaningful and impactful milestone. Michelle Belleza, class of 1995 and the executive director of The Club, was asked to recount her senior week at Lunenburg High, and her later participation in planning it. While describing her children's Baccalaureate experiences she says, "The Baccalaureate is a labor of love between families and their religion." This year's ceremony will be held at the City United Church in Lunenburg. The next day, June third, holds one of the most anticipated events of this week. This day is the busiest for the seniors, as it holds the senior breakfast, motorcade, and video. The senior breakfast is an event that takes place at The Club. It is a time for the graduating seniors to come together and connect in their final days together. The breakfast involves matching shirts, a shared meal, and signing one another's yearbooks. When asked to look ahead on the upcoming week, Paige Daly, Brooke Lyons, and Kimberly Inferrera, class of 2026, said, "The senior breakfast and dinner feels surreal and like the last time we'll all be together." However, the breakfast always takes a backseat to the long-awaited senior motorcade. The motorcade is a fun-filled event where the graduating seiniors at Lunenburg High drive in a loop around Lunenburg. The celebration begins at Conrad's, the classic ice cream and seafood spot in Lunenburg, and makes its way through Lunenburg, before ending at the Lunenburg High School. Their path not only takes them around the High School but they also drive through the Primary and Elementary schools. In this parade, the seniors cheer and celebrate from their cars, while the students and teachers from the three schools come out to cheer for them. The motorcade is a truly special experience for everyone. It gives the younger students something to look forward to and cheer for, and fulfills those same expectations the seniors have had since they were young. Many of the seniors cite this tribute as their favorite of the week. Calissa McKenna, class of 2026, says, "It's nice watching the motorcade and it's a nice goodbye to see all your schools. It's a full circle moment to be able to see all past teachers and the students." Even though the motorcade is most commonly seen as a goodbye to the seniors, it is also a tribute to their past educators. It is a heartwarming and high-energy way to appreciate the students and their teachers. Despite the action of the day already, the seniors still have one more way to celebrate their education on the third. After the motorcade, the seniors gather together to watch their video. The senior video is a compilation of photos, made for them by their parents and fellow students. The video is made during their senior year, however it contains photos of the entire class from kindergarten up to the present day. Additionally, parents and siblings are also invited to watch the tribute, allowing for loved ones to reminisce with their graduates. The video is an engaging and admirable way for the students and families to look back on their education and their experiences along the way. June fourth brings another action packed day for the seniors. Their day begins with a graduation rehearsal. The seniors gather for one last walk through to fully prepare for their upcoming big day. After the rehearsal, the students get back together for their senior dinner. The dinner is a long lasting custom where the current junior class hosts a dinner for the graduates. The juniors plan, decorate, and serve the seniors at dinner. It's an entertaining way to not only get the class together, but also display the interclass relationships and dynamics. The dinner acts as a rite of passage for the juniors, as well as a final passing of the torch for the seniors. To end off their week, the seniors attend an awards ceremony after their dinner. The awards ceremony rewards the graduates for their years of work at the school. They are recognized for their many achievements and the incredible things they did together. The awards ceremony is senior week's finale and it closes out the seniors' high school careers. This class of 2026's graduation will be held on June sixth. Senior week is an important tradition to Lunenburg schools, but it is commonly overlooked. It is an engaging and rewarding way for students to close out their academic careers and its events tend to serve as motivation for many younger students. These preliminary events leading up to graduation are some of the most memorable for Lunenburg High alumni and it creates a buildup of excitement before graduation. Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2026 and be sure to follow their senior week journey.

GOLDEN GLOBES 2026.pdf

YouUpcoming movies of 2026! -Super Mario Galaxy Movie [PG] -Coyote v.s Acme [PG] -Reminders of Him [PG-13] -Hoppers [PG] -Midwinter [PG-13] -The Sheep Detectives [PG] -Swapped [PG] -Solo Mio [PG] .pdf

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Hallway Hot Takes

By Madison Lane and Elaina Sokol

New Year, New Habits?

by Ellen Owusu

Why Habits Don't Last.

It's a new year. With a burst of inspiration you make that New Year’s resolution everybody talks about. You promise yourself drastic changes, brand new habits and a new you. By February most of the habits are already gone.

You decide this is the year you’ll go to the gym for that “summer body”. Summer comes and the body is still non-existent, not because you didn't want it desperately enough but because the habit never stuck. This cycle repeats itself yearly for many people, and raises an important question: why don't our habits last?

Big Goals With No Systems

The issue is how we approach habit building. We focus on the big goal and ignore the process. We want major change and fast results, forgetting that Rome was not built in a day and that little drops of water fill a mighty ocean. When we aim too big and fast we overwhelm ourselves which makes that habit hard to start or to stick to.

Motivation is Unreliable

Another reason habits don't stick is because we rely too heavily on motivation. We make bold decisions at midnight on January 1st fueled by excitement and emotion. But motivation is unstable as it depends on how we feel and how life and the things around us are. So when motivation fades , the habits fade along with it .

The Solution; Start Small and Stacking

To solve this we need to start small and go back to the basics by making the habits small, easy and enjoyable. Instead of aiming for drastic change, we begin with actions so simple that they are hard to resist and cause us to show up consistently. As time goes by, we can gradually build on it.

A powerful way to do this is through habit stacking, a concept popularized by James Clear, a renowned writer of the New York Times bestseller Atomic Habits. Habit stacking is linking a new habit to an existing one. For example, to start a journaling habit: after I turn off my 5:00 a.m alarm, I will pick up my journal and write what I'm grateful for. By attaching the new habit to the norm, something you already do, your brain learns to adopt the habit easily.

The lasting change we desire will not come out of the blue from motivation or the New Year’s resolution but from intentional systems and consistency. When habits are structured correctly, they do not rely on feelings to survive, they stand firmly.

In the United States we celebrate a holiday surrounding the praise of veterans, this holiday is placed in November to commemorate the end of the first World War which occurred on November 11th 191.pdf