By 6:45 pm last Friday, Newman Stadium was populated by tattoo booths, outrageous balloon hats, badminton nets, and a horde of Hawaiian shirts. No, some superior being had not transported an entire carnival created exclusively for flamboyantly dressed tourists onto North Allegheny’s football field. Friday’s scene was due to NASH’s first ever Senior Send Off. 

Senior Aveline Plenter put it best. There were certainly “more people and less clothing” than expected. 

From the moment you stepped onto the turf, one thing was clear. This event was the result of a massive amount of man and monetary power. 

This year’s luau was a substitute for the typical Senior Banquet that happens on the Gateway Clipper. Prospects that the banquet would happen this year seemed bleak as the 2021 class would have to take four separate boats in order to celebrate their high school completion. 

When parents learned that the banquet was in jeopardy, they came together to plan an alternate event that would hopefully provide this year’s graduating class with the same sense of festivity and accomplishment that the banquet did. The general consensus was that the 2021 class deserved a time and place to celebrate how far they had come, especially considering the hardships everyone endured this past year.

And so serious planning for the Senior Send Off began in March. 

With the revenue from a $25 entrance fee and some very generous parent donations, the event organizers for the Hawaiian luau were able to pull together an impressive spread of entertainment and food options. 

In tents scattered throughout the field, students were able to receive hennas and strikingly realistic airbrush tattoos. A photo-booth with a crazy assortment of props was set up on one side of the stadium, and an entire mock casino on the other. Independent activities, such as badminton, cornhole, and spike ball, were also an ever present option. At a later point in the evening, real Hawaiian dancers were brought in for a show. 

At the concessions stand near the entrance, you could find Chick-fil-A nuggets, barbecue pork sliders, subs, slices of pizza, and other fried delicacies. Off to the side as an entire Bruster’s ice cream stand. Under a large tent on the football field, students could pick up Eat N’ Park cookies, chips, brownies, waffles, candy, etc. All of which, once you paid the $25 for a ticket, was free. 

The unified sentiments of students who gave their opinions on the event was that the Senior Send Off was much better than expected. It seems that after a year of disappointing limitations, this last hurrah for the graduating class of 2021 had lived up to and exceeded expectations. 

The unified sentiments of the laughter and enthusiasm resonating through the venue was that the organizers for the Send Off had accomplished their goal. The seniors were having fun. 

Perhaps the most Hawaiian thing about this event were the tacky floral shirts and the real(!) roasted pig, but the overarching goal of giving the seniors an opportunity to finally release their burdens and celebrate themselves was achieved. Even if this one luau can’t make up for everything that was lost this year, hopefully it will send our seniors off with a few more good memories.