How Seniors spent 2023 “Senior Skip Day”

Although there may be confusion as to whether the name refers to Seniors in high school doing the popular sports warmup, “A skips” and “B skips,” Senior Skip Day is a day many high school students take part in which Seniors take the day off in favor of activities such as not being at school.  After a vigorous voting battle on the 2023 Arrowhead Nerf Wars’s Instagram story poll, Senior Skip Day was ultimately decided to be held on Friday, May 26.  As of eight hours before the poll closed, 68% of voters chose Friday whereas only 32% chose Monday, May 22.  This may have been due to “multiple sports events” being held on Monday according to the AHS Nerf Wars page.

This is not a school sanctioned event and as such, one’s absence on this day is not excused—unless one’s parent calls them in.

In 2022 nearly 90% of the 545 seniors were absent on this day according to Becky Gordon.

The day has been a part of the culture of Arrowhead for decades. English teachers Elizabeth Jorgensen and Jennifer Passler both say that they recall Senior Skip Day from their time teaching at Arrowhead.

Seniors Kate Sprinkman, Onesti Ekholm, Dani Kosidowski, Sophie Markowski, Zara Augustin Jardon, Grace Fitzgerald, and Piper Yde opted to travel 23 miles east to the land of Discovery World in Milwaukee.  This came after vigorous hours of debates on where to go on this day with options that included Madison, Devil’s Lake, Six Flags, a Brewers game, and even Ice Skating at the Petit.  The ladder option was not a particular favorite among the group.

Kosidowski says that some options were “fierce” while others were not.

Fitzgerald braved the “bed of nails” that resides at the Milwaukee museum and says that it was “sharper than expected”—but she survived.

Senior Francesca Smith spent her skip day at the Dells and says that she quite enjoyed her time.  She went with other seniors Trinity Dahl, Erica Kohls, and Ari Skip and says that it was a “Stone Bank reunion” because some of her friends she has gone to school with since elementary school… “plus Ari” who did not.  They enjoyed their time at “Mount Olympus” and were pleased with the low price of “$5.”  However, this was not an excused absence—but fear not—“I am still graduating” says Smith.

“I’m also 18 so I don’t think it really matters,” says Smith.

Some, on the other hand, did not participate in this skip day such as Senior Molly Jackson.

Jackson also went to Stone Bank but did not join in on this reunion due to having to “be [at school] sixth to tenth hour in order to practice for softball.”  

The grind never sleeps.