Lower School Memories
As one of the last graduating classes to be able to say it took computer classes in a trailer, it seems appropriate to highlight some of the greatest parts of lower school life. We reminisce fondly about the times when the Goody Cart was still a thing. When not eagerly learning our times tables, Japanese, and about George Washington and the Revolutionary War, we took to the Big Toy, blacktop, and pavilion for recess. Recess was a thirty-minute staple of every day,with an extra ten minutes taken at the end and in the beginning during the winter months to get everyone out of snow pants and puffy coats. Commonplace recess activities included classics such as shadow tag, don’t touch the ground, moat building, and snickering while spelling out “H-E-double hockey sticks.”

Construction
While we at WFS may look like a typical amalgamation of high schoolers, we have cultivated a bond forged in fire. Literally. Nowadays, we can see our resilience in face of disaster through quotidian reminders, such as the mysterious auditorium wall, the forbidden Owl’s Nest, and the perpetually packed parking lot. While students may grumble about losing half the school, the fire itself will not punctuate our high school memories. If anything, it served to highlight the cohesion of our little community.

Friends Traditions
From the senior and first grade buddy-led Halloween parade to the Holiday Celebration, traditions have made our time at WFS truly special. In the near future, this graduating class looks forward to the copious tears of the Senior Farewell, Noise Parade, and Commencement (!!!). Some of these traditions may not necessarily be unique to Friends, but who cares? They are special to us. In particular, Homecoming, with themed spirit days, pep rallies, and sports events, has been a week we have looked forward to every year. We can’t wait to come back as alumni next year to join in with the festivities.

Business Meeting
No true WFS student can deny the unmitigated joy that comes with the first Thursday of the month, when students and faculty can engage in meaningful discourse about the direction and policies of our school. But perhaps more frequently, students revel in heated debates (such as the necessity of patrolling cats to get rid of the mouse problem), and innovative suggestions (such as Joey Woodward taking on the role of Town Crier). We engage in hard-hitting conversations of the school’s infrastructure, primarily the pros and cons of bathroom shelves for our computers. For forty-five minutes once a month, we can experience the sort of political satire that tops The Daily Show.

Our Best Friends in the World (Macs)
The seniors can fondly remember the Middle Ages, when we took notes with pencils on paper and physically handed in assignments. Truly, these were dark and twisted times. For us, our silver machines of technological magic aren’t just boxes for playing solitaire or watching the stock market; they give us comfort in trying times, provide moral support, show us images of baby animals, and also help us with our homework from time to time. While other grades may take for granted these trusty bots, the senior class now looks forlornly at the admittedly “well-loved” keyboard, and wonders what life will be like after we give up our two-year long friendship.

Snow Days, Fire Days, Water Days, Heat Days
All the elements have unleashed their fury at some point of our time at Friends. With our auditorium casually catching on fire (on Kenji’s birthday!), we have had fire days off from school. We have had heat days in lower school, when the heater decided it just wasn’t feeling like coming into work that day. We’ve had a water day, when the water main also felt like playing hookie. And of course, the stream of snow days and two-hour delays that Elsa, the Snow Queen of Arrendell, has graced us with this year. Whatever the reason, it is always glorious to wake up and see that red text on the Friends School website and going back to bed, knowing your only obligation for the day is to drink copious amounts of hot chocolate and watch more Netflix than is advisable for your physical and mental health.

The College Guidance Room
After four years, each WFS student receives a sacred rite: a seat in the College Guidance Room. Surrounded by luscious, leather chairs, picturesque images of universities, and a bounty of snacks, the seniors feel a much-needed sense of serenity amidst a year of confusion and stress. Most importantly, of course, Kathleen Martin’s infectious optimism and sagacious advice restores the tenuous sanity that the seniors wish to have. The College Guidance Room offers the perfect capstone to four years of high school and a rare emotional oasis. We are especially grateful for Kathleen, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Satterfield’s endless support throughout the stressful college process.

Quacker-ness
Despite lame smack talk at sporting events of WFS being “Home of the Quackers,” and poor jokes of people asking if we’re all “friends at Friends,” we are proud to be the Quakers, and the quirkiness of going to a Quaker school (What other school has courses such as “Global Peace, Justice, and Social Change” or “Quakerism and Thee?”) Although maybe unwilling to openly admit it, most of us have benefited from the values, global outlook, and ethos of a Quaker education, which has taught us to celebrate diversity, help others, and value community. Some other benefits of a Quaker education include being able to recite the Quaker “S.P.I.C.E.S” in our sleep (simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, stewardship), ironic sports chants (“Fight, fight, inner light, kill, Quakers, kill!”), and special talents learned from Meeting for Worship like knowing the exact number of light fixtures in the meeting room or how to get adequately comfortable on a friend’s shoulder and the wooden armrest.

International Baccalaureate
The IB may not be the greatest memory, but it has definitely been a major presence in our lives. Students pursuing the infamous IB Programme have a genuine sense of solidarity towards each other. From proofreading TOK essays and understanding not a single sentence, to writing extended essays the night before a due date, these students may complain (frequently). However, they can commiserate with students from all across the globe. These scholars also have the pleasure of not only pursuing higher academia, but also using an arsenal of acronyms (TOK, EE, CAS, IB, IOC, EHEM, etc.) and a title like “International Baccalaureate Programme” to sound deceivingly smart in conversations.

Teachers
Although it sometimes seems like every teacher in the school telepathically decides to schedule a test or project in each subject on the same day, our teachers are pretty great. Some are stricter than others, some seem downright crazy at times, but they all share the same passions for the subject they teach and for us, the students. It is evident, from the time they put into lessons, extra help, sponsoring clubs and committees, writing college letters of recommendation, and chatting during downtime, that they truly care about their students and want us to succeed. For that, we are so grateful.

The Seniors (i.e. Us)
Following in line with all the strict rules and regulations of journalistic integrity, The Whittier strongly maintains that the seniors of 2014 will go down in history as the most talented and majestic grade in Delaware, if not in the world. The seniors reigned victorious in every spirit-week competition, donning the most outlandish outfits and bleeding more blue than anyone else. Yet, the seniors are not just mythic creatures high on the clouds of Mount Olympus, they offer penetrating wisdom to underclassmen and exemplify leadership on and off the fields. How will the WFS community survive when these pioneers begin the next big adventure of their lives?

Honorable Mentions
– The English department as the most fashionable group of teachers in Delaware
– Watching J-Pop with Akiko and Mariko in lower school Japanese class
– Mr. Ergueta’s jokes, laugh, and smile
– Nanky-Poo the guinea pig peeing on Marshall Dugan’s math textbook in second grade
– The 5th grade Chesapeake Bay trip
– Lunch and Learns
– Jumbo cookies from the cafeteria
– Mysterious disappearances of just-as-mysterious classmates
– Julia Rhodes rapping the entirety of Nelly’s Grillz