NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. — For high school seniors this time of the year can be very exciting. It can also be very stressful, with important decisions to make.
Everything circles back to the question of, what are you going to do after high school?
With just a couple months left in their high school careers, North Tonawanda seniors got a huge pat on the back Tuesday -- recognizing where seniors will be going after graduation, whether it be college or the military -- giving them their own personal photo shoot, and the chance to win prizes like gift cards.
"You could also get apparel and you can win that through the raffle and also free prom tickets to the greatest prom, which I'm planning," said Ethan Clark, the senior class president.
The idea of doing all this came from former First Lady Michelle Obama, who started the College Signing Day initiative, encouraging all students to reach higher in their lives.
This is the fourth year North Tonawanda High has done this.
"The purpose is not just to certainly recognize the seniors, but to let other students -- the freshmen, the sophomores and juniors, all walking by this -- to promote the idea and plant the seeds in their head that there should be something that they're looking for and looking higher to achieve," said Robert Derrett, the department chair for the school counseling program at North Tonawanda High.
Hannah Riley will be going to Rochester Institute of Technology to major in museum studies.
Her dream job? To curate for the Smithsonian.
She thinks it's cool seeing where other students are going next year.
"Which is really interesting to see all across the board. Some people are staying local, some people are going away, and it's kind of surprising, but it's cool to see that too," Riley said.
So, how are these students feeling about graduation?
"I have 'senioritis.' I am going to admit that but I am taking AP courses, so those exams are coming up next month, so I'm starting to prepare for those," Riley said.
Added Clark: "I want to cherish the time that I have left however I don't want to leave anything behind."
And don't worry, none of that took away time from the classroom. It was all done around lunchtime.
At North Tonawanda High, they're doing something right, school leaders say about 90 percent of their seniors go onto college or some type of post secondary education.
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