A tradition rooted in class unity and in line with our school's recent efforts to improve student health, Senior Skip Day has been a paramount element of the celebrations for the senior class. 

First, the element of class unity is at the event’s core, especially when the whole class does something fun altogether. In Coach Maul's Health and Wellness class two years ago, we watched a video (credible enough to be taught at prep) with the message that people's biggest regret was almost always not loving the people around them more. Skip day is one of our last major opportunities to strengthen our bonds before we part ways for college. It's a chance to make the connections we were to afraid to take before we realized our time together was coming to an end. 

Second, it could be seen as a mental health day. If students are burnt out, this is a great opportunity to relax, take a breath, and finish the year strong instead of being burnt out without a break. There are many articles and videos online explaining why mental health days are so important. A comprehensive article written by an organization called Science and Literacy delves into what they are, why they are important, and scientific research supporting the argument from various credible sources such as TED: Comprehensive Review In Support of Mental Health Days - Further, Oregon even passed a law in 2019 allowing students to take 5 mental health days within a 3-month, which in our case would equate to 15 mental health days, but we'd only be asking for one. We think if legislation sees it fit, we should see it even more fit because of the Jesuit ideals of student health.

Finally, apart from the fact that we have an opportunity to recharge and bond with eachother, it's tradition, and we want to honor it. In our time at Prep, every single graduating class has had it, and it would only be fair for us to have it too. We want to give each grade after us the same opportunity, we because we firmly believe in it's benefits. And we believe that it was seen that way too, at some point in Prep's history since it was a scheduled event on the Prep calendar. We understand and appreciate our teachers' immense work. We wish nothing but the best for them, and we believe each class will continue running skip day no matter its level of officiality. If administration is willing to make it an official Prep event on the calendar, teachers can prepare for it months in advance, leaving virtually no downside to running a planned skip day. We don't want to be the class that leaves a legacy of shutting down traditions. We want to be the class that finds common ground in our schedules while preserving our traditions. Not having the event on the calendar polarizes everyone more- teachers aren't happy about students skipping because lower test grades reflect badly on them although it wasn't completely in their control, some students want to skip because of the aforementioned reasons, some students have important events they must attend to, some students feel peer pressured into doing one thing or the other, it's a mess. We propose that Seattle Prep formally acknowledges this tradition by scheduling Senior Skip Day as an official event on the calendar. By doing so, we ensure the tradition lives on while respecting everyone's schedule and being able to enjoy one of the final bonding days freely. Please sign this petition if you believe in preserving traditions and promoting student well-being at Seattle Prep.

-Senior ASB