Class of 2025: The First Graduating Class in the New School!

Photo Credit: Addison Lock

As Hamber left the old building, grade 12s left behind the infamous grad hall. However, with a new school comes new traditions, and grads are hoping to make their final year at Hamber (and their first in the new building) the best one yet.

The grad hall does not exist anymore due to differences in the new building’s floor plan. Instead, grade 12s gather in the new designated grad huddle space, which has been a topic of discussion for grads as they settle in.

“It’s not really a grad space in my opinion,” said Shayan Sabet (12). “Other people come and just sit there so it's not really special or anything.”

Past graduating classes had most of the lower first floor to themselves. Within that area, grads would eat lunch on camping chairs near selected lockers. Both are privileges that grads this year do not have anymore, due to the assignment of lockers and lack of space in the grad huddle area.

“I would definitely prefer the grad hall in the old building — it has more sentimental value since all the past grads have been there. It would have been nice to stay there as well,” Sabet reflected.

Some students, like Greta Gibbon (12), find the grad huddle too small. “All of the grads cannot really congregate there; a lot of them are sprawled around,” she said. “I definitely feel like it needs to be bigger or needs to have more character to it.”

Others, like Kieran Rooke (12), worry that the balcony in the space is “a little bit dangerous, as people throw stuff off of it.” The balcony overlooks the new atrium, contributing to the school’s open floor plan.

However, Rooke still prefers the new grad huddle over the old grad hall. “The new grad area is more central and everyone can just walk to it,” said Rooke. “It’s not secluded under the auditorium as the old school was.”

This year’s Grad Committee has been organizing a variety of events for the Class of 2025, hoping to create a memorable final year. A current favourite, however, is spirit week, which will be happening monthly.

“I really liked spirit week because I felt like a lot of the grads participated which I wasn’t expecting,” Gibbon said. “In the past, people haven’t been very spirited, but everyone really came together and dressed up on certain days.

Gibbon added that All White Wednesday was her favourite because “it was obvious that it was a grad event.” As Gibbon explained, the all-white outfits distinctly distinguished them from other grades, as it was something only the grade twelves had in common. Gibbon says it stood out from other spirit days such as twin day, since it wasn’t always obvious that people were participating.

A current obstacle faced by Grad Committee revolves around the potential grad movie night.

“[Movie night] might not happen because there is no food and drinks allowed in the auditorium at all,” Grad Committee member Olivia Lindsay (12) said. “So even if a student brings some by mistake, we would never be able to do it again.” 

In addition, a movie licence application would need to be submitted in order to host a movie night.

An event most grads are looking forward to is Prom. However, there is a lot of preparation that needs to happen behind the scenes.

“Later on, when prom season comes, it’ll be a lot more tense,” Grad Committee member Adrian Lai (12) predicts. "There [will] be more comments and criticism because it is a bigger event.”

Despite all these hurdles, Grad Committee is also planning a boat cruise, a brand new Hamber tradition. Similar to prom, this will require extensive planning, especially since it has not been done in previous years.

Lindsay encourages this year’s grade 11 students to consider running for Grad Committee, as it’s great to experience being a part of the planning. Her message to the class of 2025? “Attend all the grad events so you don’t regret it at the end!”

With the move to the new school and the implementation of assigned lockers, there is no longer a designated grad hall for the class of 2025. Interview students about their opinions on the new “grad huddle”. Also talk about new grad traditions as a broader topic — what traditions from the old school won’t happen in the new building? What’s new?