The class of 2013 has certainly left its mark at Bel Air High School. But it is time for us to leave. It is time for us to move on and, for the most part, we can’t wait. We finally get to leave high school behind and head off into adulthood, whatever it is we decide to do with our new found freedom. It is something we have been looking forward to for a very long time. As a matter of fact, some of us may even wish we had never been in high school at all. Bel Air didn’t need us; it would never have even noticed had we just gone on without ever being in high school. Or so we think. The Bel Air Drama Company performed the timeless holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life this winter, and in the spirit of that, let us try to imagine what Bel Air High School would have been like without the class of 2013.
The school year would have begun in a mundane fashion. Attendance would have been full on the days following the Oriole’s first playoff games in fifteen years. Fall Friday nights would have been dull. Football games, both home and away, would have been averagely attended by passive fans. There certainly would not have been any deafening cries of “I believe” to spur on one of Bel Air’s more successful teams in recent memory. There would have been no middle school parking lot tailgates to be broken up. The school certainly would not have a new all time leading rusher, because without the class of 2013, Juwan Singletary would never have been at Bel Air High School. Not only would football have lost a record breaker, but there would not be a new assists record for men’s volleyball, or a new points record for men’s soccer. The school needed Kyle Johnson and Carson Kalama for that. And there would have been no undefeated regional champion women’s volleyball team without the class of 2013. And what would four years of women’s soccer games have looked like without Teresa Berg patrolling the midfield?
The week of homecoming certainly would have been a little different. No togas, no crowns and much less Bobcat Spirit in general. Alex Lipka wouldn’t have been able to put a live fish in a crown if he had never been at Bel Air High School. There would have been no Homecoming Court, at least one less pie to throw and one less sandwich board to decorate. Homecoming week would have lost a lot of its magic without the class of 2013. There may not even have been a successful Quidditch Tournament at Bel Air High School without our graduating class.
Then there is the inspiration for this article itself. What would the Bel Air Drama Company’s fall performances have been if it wasn’t for the senior class? Certainly 13 and It’s a Wonderful Life would have lost some of their luster without this graduating class there to lead the drama department. Clarence the Angel may never have appeared on stage in our auditorium if JC Park never attended Bel Air High School.
What would the music department be like without this class? The risers certainly would have been less crowded during the traditional Shalom/Silent Night conclusion to the Winter Choral Concert. Counterpoints may not have made states. What would the Swing Dance have been like without the senior class? Far less swinging, that much is sure.
Winter sports certainly would have lost two of their highlights without this graduating class. Bel Air would still be in search of its next one thousand point scorer in basketball without Tyler Norcross. And Bobcat wrestling loses a state champion and a hundred match winner without Will Holder-Moore.
What about Bel Air’s service for the community and the charity we participate in? Where would that have been without the class of 2013? There certainly wouldn’t have been enough blood donated at our blood drive to save one hundred and twenty five lives. There would not even have been a hair donation fundraiser without Meghan Heeter. What about the money raised for the Matt Rutherford Foundation through our student versus teacher sporting events?
The academic landscape of Bel Air High School would be much different as well. The Academic Team may not have captured its third straight county championship if not for the vast knowledge of Shakespearean literature that Josh Sporre possesses. There would have been far fewer AP tests taken and one less Bel Air graduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and Cornell.
The arts at Bel Air High School would have suffered without our class. The Poetry Slam would certainly have lost a marvelous coordinator in Jordan Wilner. There would be no Starry Night Heart outside of the Bel Air Armory if not for Alice Lee and Chelsey Rektorik. And who could have been a more convincing Ms. Darvis than Miranda Haney in the drama Company’s spring production of High School Musical?
The spring sports season also would have taken a serious hit without the class of 2013. After four years, it is hard to imagine a Bel Air lacrosse team without Parker Jones leading the charge. The baseball team certainly wouldn’t be on the impressive playoff run that they are as this article is being written without the senior class.
There’s no prom at all without the senior class. And what would Bel Air have been like without our prom King John Frieswyk, and Gabby Zakrocki, the Prom Queen. And all the other senior events would be gone without us. There would never have been a covert senior spirit week without our class officers. No senior class cookout without EJ O’Bryant. Without the class of 2013, there would be three hundred and ninety nine fewer cases of senioritis, three hundred and ninety nine fewer proud Bobcats, and an entirely different Bel Air High School all together.