With the end of the year coming up fast, Bellows Free Academy has many activities and events planned for this year’s senior class. According to Theresa Callan, Executive Assistant to Bellows Free Academy’s Principal Brett Blanchard and one of the members of the Senior Events Committee, they typically start planning these events in March but start planning graduation much earlier in October.

Callan also shared that student voice is important to the deciding process and that seniors received emails asking what they wanted to do for their senior events. The Senior Events Committee gathers input from the student advisory group, Student Council and Athletic Council as well. 

Last year, during the pandemic, Bellows Free Academy created fun new activities, some of which will be brought back this year. One of the activities Callan mentioned was returning from last year was pizza in the park and yearbook distribution. This will allow the seniors to get signatures from their peers and enjoy the fresh air. A couple of other activities they are bringing back are Break Out to the Bay, movie night at the Collins Perley Sports Center and Last Licks.

“Last Licks [is] an ice cream social after graduation rehearsal, and parents can join in,” Callan said.

According to Callan, compared to last year, donations are a lot greater this year. Last year, senior families were needed to help with making up for the loss of fundraisers, but this year they will only need a sign-up for donations for Break Out to the Bay.

Break Out to the Bay includes a barbeque, parade and many activities. BFA math teacher and member of the Senior Events Committee, Karla Kane, shared that this is the first year they will be doing a barbeque, and in the past years they had done a brunch with breakfast-type foods. While the menu of the barbeque is not yet set in stone, they are currently planning on serving hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, chips and brownies or cookies.

Seniors can look forward to Break Out to the Bay activities, which are much like those that occurred at Project Graduation. 

“Project graduation has been an event where the senior class is able to get together to participate in fun activities like a hypnotist show, obstacle course, volleyball, inflatable jousting, and photo booth while listening to music provided by a DJ,” Kane said.  According to Kane, they are planning to have similar activities at the Bay with additional activities like Can Jam or cornhole. 

Another part of Break Out to the Bay is the parade that occurs down to the Bay. Kane said last year, “the parade consist[ed] of the seniors’ cars, a few teacher vehicles and a police escort.”

There will be more details in the weeks to come, but this is a first sneak peek.