Though most issues involving the voices of all 800 high school seniors are multifaceted, a recent topic has been the center of intense discussion and opposition among NRHS’s senior class: graduation. Possibly the most pivotal, culminating day of every student’s life, seniors always aim for a perfect graduation. The topic of the current debate: location. 

Seniors are deliberating on two possible locations for 2025 graduation: the high school football field, or the Westchester County Center. The NRHS field, where graduation has commenced every previous year, allows for unlimited ticket slots for each student. On the other hand, the county Center’s size provides each student with a limit of five tickets for guests. Still, there are pros and cons regarding both options. A huge point of concern is the weather, as the field would be outdoors, while the county center would hold an indoor, comfortably air-conditioned ceremony. With global warming annually increasing in severity, blazing hot weather has been a consistent feature of NRHS graduation. Rain or other uncomfortable weather conditions are also possible. Some students have additionally brought up a lack of disability access with the high school bleachers, a regard in which the county center may be better. Still, many believe high school graduation should undoubtedly be held at the high school they are graduating from. Numerous students find it especially important to say goodbye to their highschool on the campus ground itself. 

Members of the Student Government and Senior Executive Board, who have the responsibility of representing the majority voice of the graduating senior class, are using the senior GroupMe chat to open polls and send google form-based emails asking the debated location question. One senior said in the GroupMe, “Gotta end it where it all started” while others stated “Imagine it’s 90 degrees” and “Outside is hot and hard to hear anything”. Another senior remarked, “The point of graduation is at our high school, why would it be somewhere else?”. Jimena Agustin, a senior at NRHS who has been to all three graduations throughout her time at the high school to support upperclassmen important to her, expressed complexities on both sides. Ultimately, she strongly supported graduation held at NRHS largely due to the loss of the opportunity for underclassmen to attend graduation if the County Center was chosen. Agustin commented, “Although graduation is long, it’s amazing to hear your friend’s name called," she said. “Not having the support of underclassmen, family, and friends at the graduation…then there’s no point to it…taking that support away is demeaning. It makes it not as special.” Agustin is the first of six family members to graduate from the high school, meaning she would need more than five tickets for any extended family to be able to come celebrate her achievements. “Having the graduation at the highschool allows for a larger capacity of people to come support” she said. 

Contrary to initial impressions, this topic’s impact doesn’t at all end only with the graduating class. Graduation has historically been held on the NRHS football field, and a change to this tradition may imply a possible change for future graduations. Subsequently, students from all grades have been made aware of the conversation. Juniors especially are forming opinions and wondering what their end of graduation ceremony might look like next year. An 11th grader at NRHS, Marisol Figueroa concluded that the New Rochelle high school itself is the only adequate place for graduation. She touched on the distance of the county center, as it's a long drive for many seniors–many of which may not have a car–making the location inaccessible. Figueroa acknowledged the possibility of difficult weather, but decided the pros still outweigh the cons of the field graduation. She said, “There are a lot of solutions for the heat…people can bring water, umbrellas, fans, etc…It seems like the only con is the weather.” To Marisol, weather obstacles shouldn’t be the defining factor of the dispute. 

Am email sent out on December 11 stated that the 2025 graduation will take place at the Westchester County Center.