Niles West Senior Cabinet organized its second unofficial senior spirit day with the theme, “Senior Citizen Day” on Friday, April 8. The spirit day encouraged seniors to “dress like old people” according to a flyer posted on the class of 2022 Instagram story. 

According to senior class secretary Simra Shareef, “We really wanted to end this year with a bang and give the senior class the fun they deserve by having senior-only spirit days. We sent out a poll and senior citizen day was one of the most popular nominations.” 

The Senior Cabinet decided on an unofficial spirit day, “in order to avoid confusion or conflicts with the school,” senior class president Brandon Thach said. “We plan to do these every Friday for the rest of the year to keep senior spirit high as we approach our final days at Niles West. The school has not permitted us to enjoy our final year of high school with things like pep assemblies or a normal homecoming, so we just have to take things into our own hands.”

However, unlike the “Anything but a backpack” senior spirit day, very few seniors participated. 

“I didn’t participate in the spirit day because the idea I had required me to bring an item, and since last spirit day they made everyone return their items to their homes/cars I didn’t want to participate knowing the same outcome could happen,” senior Harun Senderovic said. 

Other students were also worried about the school’s response. 

“It was unofficial so I didn’t want my stuff taken away and I was too tired in the morning to put effort into it. Glad I didn’t because no one else did,” senior  Jacob Berkowitz said.

For others, however, a busy week got in the way. 

“I didn’t really hear about a lot of other people who were doing it and this week was just a hectic week,” senior Dashna Benjamin said.

“I didn’t participate in senior citizen day because I couldn’t find a proper ‘senior citizen’ outfit,” senior Izzy Leskaj said.

Thach echoed the same sentiments as his peers at the end of the school day. 

“There was a lack of enthusiasm for the theme and people were worried about the school’s response. It didn’t help that it was also late notice.” 

For any seniors that want to participate in future spirit days, keep an eye out for updates on the Instagram page @nwclass0f22.