On the first day of school, seniors Lara Butlevics and Allison Kelly ran up to their classmates and asked them their thoughts on senior year.

Now, this was not without motive, as Lara and Allison have been granted the task of creating the senior video for the class of 2023. Throughout the school year thus far, the two of them have been capturing every moment of their peers’ last year within the walls of FHC and compiling together a plethora of memories into a ten-minute-long video that can be cherished forever.

“Not only is [the senior video] just really good memories,” Lara said, “but it’s a good memento because when you’re older you’re gonna look back at something that you had from your senior year. You get to look back at all your memories because we filmed so much stuff and you get to look back at your entire year. It’s not just a couple of memories popping up, you literally get to see what your entire senior year was comprised of. And I think that’s just such a cool thing to have and to get to watch later in your life.”

Lara and Allison are able to work together on this year-long project because of their independent study with film teacher Jeff Manders. First semester, they both had their independent study during the same hour, which made it easier for them to communicate with one another about different aspects of their video. Now, they have the class at different hours, but they are still able to work together successfully.

The senior video has been an ongoing tradition at FHC, and it was even present before Manders began teaching here thirteen years ago. With all of the built-up knowledge that Manders has on the tradition and Lara and Allison’s dedication to film study, Manders knew that they would be perfect for the job.

“I hope [Lara and Allison] make a video that speaks to as many of the students as possible,” Manders said. “Something that not only the two who are making are gonna be proud of, but that all the seniors will be excited to see. And we always joke [about how] the goal is to try to make a couple of people tear up at the end, right? Because it’s kind of the final saying [of] goodbye. 

In last year’s senior video for the class of 2022, the short film was primarily centered around athletics at FHC. While sports will still be included in this year’s video, Lara and Allison made sure to highlight many aspects of FHC.

Allison and Lara’s main goals were to keep the video entertaining and to amplify representation. They wanted to include as many sports teams, clubs, and programs as possible in their video. While at times it was difficult to ensure that everyone is included, they have enjoyed it nonetheless.

“[We get] to represent and [have] people come to us and [ask us], ‘can you include this and this in your video?’” Allison said. “Like, ‘Yes, of course.’ And getting to make people happy [is amazing].”

At the end of the seniors’ school year—mid to late May—FHC holds a senior recognition ceremony in the gym, where the entire student body convenes to watch as seniors are presented with a plethora of awards that were accumulated throughout their four years. Along with that, the senior video made by Allison and Lara will be presented to the whole school.

And, as the current seniors bid their farewells, the current juniors begin to fathom over what their video will consist of next year. Of course, with the constant competition between the two upper-class grades, the rising seniors will be striving to make their video even better than this one. However, Allison believes that the task will be difficult for them to complete.

“I really hope that it’s going to be hard to live up to making [the senior video] as good as it is this year, next year,” Allison said. “That sounds kind of weird, but [last year] I know a lot of people were disappointed, and at the end of the senior recognition assembly, teachers were like, ‘all right, you have to do this next year,’ because I’m making it. So, I hope next year that doesn’t happen and I hope people are happy with the representation [in] the video.”

Along with the increased representation in this year’s senior video, Lara and Allison are adding in a special tidbit that has never been done before: skits. The two of them are adding in small skits throughout the short film to add a sense of comedic relief to the mellow sentimentality. 

Both Lara and Allison are extremely excited for their classmates to laugh with them as they watch the skits that narrate their senior year. Instead of simply having montages and interviews with dramatic background music, the duo added a sprinkling of entertainment in the mix.

“[The skits] give us a chance to be goofy and have fun together,” Lara said. “And, [it] also gives us a chance to actually be in [the video] since we’re not really focusing on putting ourselves in there as much. So, you know, double whammy.”

After having attended FHC for up to thirteen years, the seniors are deserving of a fantastic video to wrap up their time here before moving on to larger things. With the video created by Lara and Allison, the class of 2023 will be able to reminisce on what will one day be known as the “good old days.”

And as Lara and Allison take their final steps out of the doors of FHC, they want to know that they accomplished something that will be cherished forever by those that they have grown up with. This, they believe, has been a successful endeavor thus far, and they are ecstatic to present the finished product.

“I hope to leave a good mark [at FHC],” Lara said. “I love talking to all the students about [the senior video], and I just hope that they like it. And I just want to make sure that people know that I care about the school and I care about doing things for the school and I hope that people recognize my work ethic on that and [we] put so much effort into this senior video and I just want people to recognize that motivation that [we] had for it.”