Beginning on May 24, seniors are encouraged to participate in senior walks, where they are able to walk through their old elementary and middle school before graduating. No sign up is required and many students who walked through Grandview Hills did so during their off period or during lunch. Seniors must sign in at the campus’ front office. The only school that will need an RSVP is Steiner Ranch and the timing and requirements for each senor walk is available on the Vandegrift senior information page.

“I think it’s really for closure and also I’m always amazed how excited everyone is to see where the students are going,” college and career transition coordinator Sarah Spradling said. “I think the seniors have been working so hard and from my perspective, the celebration is so fast at the end. So I think we need to draw out that celebration so it will be really nice and fulfilling for students.”

Seniors can go on as many of the senior walks as they want, but it will count as an excused absence.

“I just really hope the seniors feel a sense of pride,” Spradling said. “They’re also kind of paying it forward for the younger generations and it can also feed that sense of community. People have younger siblings, neighbors and kids that they babysat. I think those ties to your community are really important.”

When walking through the halls, teachers and younger students will gather in the halls to say hello and get advice from the graduating seniors.

“I think one thing seniors don’t realize is that we want to know how you all end up in this world,” Spradling said. “It’s hard for us at the high school level because you all go off into this abyss of the world.”

It’s up to how much the students choose to participate and if the schools continue to keep the tradition alive in a more formal sense.

“It’s just so fun to see, and for those teachers to have seen twelve years into the future what you guys have accomplished and what direction you’re going with your life is really amazing,” Spradling said. “Because as educators, we don’t do this for the pay, we do this for the sense of reward that we are helping people develop into successful young adults.”

Kandice Detlefsen compared the senior walks to a similar tradition held at A&M called the Elephant Walk.

“I think the senior walk is a tradition for seniors to return to their roots,” Detlefsen said. “It allows students to take a walk down memory lane, walk the hallways and say goodbye to the past that brought them to this point. On the flip side to that it’s a great thing for the younger students to see that there is an end in sight and to see the seniors dressed up in their cap and gown.”

Teachers and students will gather in the halls to see the seniors as they walk around the school and have the opportunity to ask them questions.

“I think that the seniors have put a lot of work into their futures and some of them are just ready to walk and move on,” Detlefsen said. “But I think it’s important to acknowledge your past and to go back and see all the great things that lead up to this big day of importance. It’s really just a huge thank you and validation for [the seniors].”

Senior Natalie Root will be participating in the senior walk held on June 7 for Four Points Middle School.

“I think it’s important to go back and see how the school has changed and to remind myself how much I’ve also changed over time,” Root said. “It think the idea is awesome because it allows younger students to think bigger and know that their own graduation is not that far away. It think it will help them grow and push their limits. It’s nice that seniors can just have the time to reminisce before they leave.”