After a long, last day of high school, seniors will board the Gateway Clipper on May 27th for an evening of celebration on the river. 

“Senior Banquet is a celebration of your time at North Allegheny, celebrated with your fellow seniors on the Gateway Clipper,” said senior class advisor Mrs. Shannon Perry. “It will be a chance to mingle with your friends, dance, and have a nice dinner, all the while touring Pittsburgh’s three rivers.”

This banquet will be North Allegheny’s first after a three-year hiatus. Because of the pandemic, it was determined that a banquet would not have been in the best interest of public health. 

“What’s new about Senior Banquet this year is that we are actually getting to have one! We haven’t been able to celebrate like this with our seniors since 2019,” Perry told The Uproar. 

Not only will seniors enjoy an extravagant dinner and Pittsburgh’s three rivers, but also they will discover who won the Senior Superlatives. Certain seniors will claim lofty titles, such as Miss Vogue, Mr. GQ, the Golden Shovel Award, and Biggest Flirt. 

Senior Superlatives are voted on by the whole senior class. In recent weeks at NASH, seniors individually voted for their classmates in preliminary and finalist rounds.  The winners remain a secret until the banquet.

“I’d say the thing I’m most looking forward to is probably the Senior Superlative announcements. It’ll be a good time announcing them in person and calling up the winners, and it should be a highlight of the night,” said Coleman Walsh, Senior Class President. 

Walsh and the rest of the Class Council represent the Class of ’22 by assisting the advisors with organizing and planning the banquet, in addition to helping with Prom. 

“The student government basically just helps out with the legwork of the event. Mrs. Perry and Mr. Solenday have the wrinkles ironed out from doing it in past years, so our job is just pulling together the details and making sure it’s a great night for the students,” Walsh added. 

The Senior Banquet involves just as much planning as Prom. Preparing for the banquet starts as early as a year before the event actually takes place.

Additionally, with this year’s senior class of around 700 students, North Allegheny’s third largest graduating class, organizing and planning senior events has its extra challenges. 

“We have already started planning the 2023 Senior Banquet. With such large graduating classes at NA and so many schools in Pittsburgh wanting to celebrate at similar times, it is important to book the venues for Prom and Banquet early to ensure a facility that can fit everyone,” Perry explained. 

The process is never easy, but the class advisors are just as excited as the seniors themselves. The banquet is extra special because it is only for North Allegheny senior students, unlike Prom, which allows for dates to be either juniors or students from different schools.  Additionally, unlike Prom, attendees are bused to and from the event.

“Mr. Solenday and I can’t wait for May 27th.  The Senior Banquet is definitely one of our favorite events of the year,” Perry said.