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Senior Parade
Coming full circle in a joyous march
April 8 was an extraordinary Friday at FIS. Effervescent celebration, party fun, happiness and cheer swelled and swept through
the hallways. Applause, yeahs and hurrahs of encouragement, recognition and validation, joyous tears welling up in many an eye – all of these feelings, emotions and values were vibrantly alive. Classrooms decorated into discos, dancing even poured into the Tech Deck. Flip- flops, straw hats and Hawaiian shirts the rigor of the day’s dress code. A memorable day, the end of Senior Week, it marked the last formal school day for the 138 seniors soon to be closing an important chapter of their life. Our seniors in caps and gowns took to the halls and walked a joyous march, greeted and recognized for the work well done in the long journey till graduation by all at our school. A tradition in the making, the Senior Parade, also known as the “Clap Out” or “Walk of Fame,” is here to stay.
For Justin Draft, Grade 12 Year Head, leading the parade was a joyous and emotional experience. Seniors emerged expansive and positive from their last assembly. Having seen baby pictures of themselves and now in the final stretch of their schooling, they gathered as one class to celebrate their accomplishments. Wearing our school’s emblematic Warrior color in their cap and gowns, they marched through the Oberursel Campus to be received by students, teachers, staff and the few lucky parents present who work as substitute teachers. Mr. Draft said, “the energy and joy of the teachers and young students that we saw around the building was immense.”The parade marks the last official day of classes for seniors and as Mr. Draft explained, “it felt like the seniors had the full force of the entire school community filling their sails as they headed off toward the final segment of their school experience” – IB exams and Graduation.
At the Primary School, Gayle Angbrandt, or “Ms. Gayle” as she is known by her students, waited in anticipation alongside her current Primary grade class. As the music and clapping started, Ms. Gayle’s Primary grade students lined up in the hallway with“big eyes and bright smiles,”ready to spot seven of the marching seniors who 12 years before, had been in the Primary Grade themselves. According to Ms. Gayle, the parade was a joyous celebration for her current students as they talked about what it means to graduate and made a poster for the seven former students graduating. Each poster had the name, a photo of the student when they were in the Primary Grade and their
20 FIS World June 2022