For as long as any Middletown High School senior can remember, the senior countdown has been one of the most important and time-honored traditions.
But now at the beginning of seniors’ final term here at MHS, the absence of the huge wooden sign hanging above the front lobby doors has been noticed by seniors and underclassmen alike, leading to many questions and rumors on what happened to it.
“I’m upset because I’ve seen it up there since I was a freshman and have always looked forward to it when I was a senior,” said MHS senior Karolina Ross, who will be attending the West Virginia University next fall.
“It shows all the time we have left here after spending four years with the same people growing up together.”
Through all the confusion and lack of answers, students get mixed ideas on what happened to the popular MHS tradition.
One of the assumptions was that the administration has removed the countdown due to a “lack of effort” by senior students. But these rumors have no truth to them.
When asked about why the senior countdown has yet to be displayed, MHS principal, Denise Fargo-Devine said, “We had to move around bulletin boards and certain things to prepare to paint the hallway, but the administration is not in charge of putting the countdown back up.”
“I didn’t even know that students thought we had something to do with it.”
So if the walls are finally painted, and the administration had nothing to do with the banner, when will it be put back up?
Senior class executive board adviser Cynthia Anderson said that the delay was due to the possibility that the senior countdown was being upgraded.
“We’re trying to put the banner up as soon as possible, but there is a possibility that we will be getting a much nicer one, with a digital countdown,” said Anderson.
Anderson added that she will be petitioning the administration to put the old banner up for the time being.
Either way, with only 32 days left for the current seniors, time is running out to enjoy one of MHS’s oldest traditions.
