As seniors head toward the end of the year, they participate in many activites that signal the end of their high school career, such as getting measured for caps and gowns and voting for senior class superlatives. This year, seniors voted for superlatives in December, earlier than in previous years in order to have the yearbook ready for the seniors to take in the spring instead of November. Superlatives have always been a traditional part of the senior class in high school; they are something people always remember about themselves and about their classmates. When superlatives are issued, the hope is that they will accurately portray the senior class, and students will remember forever some of the standout personalities in their class. The seniors this year, however, felt that they were given class superlatives that did not fit who they actually were, which, if they were not corrected, would leave five of the seniors being remembered forever as something they were not. “Superlatives are a good way of recognizing the students who make the class unique in different ways, and they act as a way to bring the class together as they vote and think about what made the class special,” said Mckenzie Gould, English Teacher at Walpole High and the Yearbook Coordinator.

The mistake made in issuing some of the superlatives left the senior class feeling confused about who was actually supposed to win. Meghan Murphy (Best Lookinh]g), Kim Ciardello (Best Facial Expressions), Hope Kelley (Best Laugh), Katie Cavaca (Class Flirt), and Kellie Jo McCann (Most Likely to Be a Movie Star) were given superlatives that they did not actually win. At first, each of them, like McCann who originally won Best Laugh before the mistake was corrected, were confused when they were issued a superlative that did not fit. “I was really annoyed,” McCann said, “I didn’t want to be remembered for something that I didn’t have. I wanted to be remembered for what I did, not some silly flop.” Murphy was also confused by the mix up when she mistakenly won Most Likely to Be a Movie Star. “I was so confused when I won the “movie star” award, since the male winner was Luke Witherell, who is so involved with drama, and then there was me. I haven’t done drama or a musical or anything, ever, and I couldn’t find one person who voted me for it, so I definitely questioned whether I should have won that,” Murphy said.

Ms. Gould was notified of the mistake, and when she checked back over the data she realized the yearbook committee had made a mistake in calculating the votes. “Survey Monkey prints out a list of all of the votes, but some of the titles were so long they pushed the names onto separate pieces of paper, which caused [the committee] to read them wrong,” Ms. Gould said.  The results were recalculated and the correct awards were announced the following day on the morning anouncements.

Senior superlatives are a way to remember the unique elements of a particular class. They are voted for, documented, and published in the yearbook to remember in the future years. This year’s class superlatives give an accurate depiction, after the mistake was fixed, of some of the students who make the senior class special. Although not as many people voted as the yearbook committee would have liked, the seniors mostly agrees that the results were an accurate depiction of their class. “There were no surprises in the results when they were anounced. Everyone pretty much knew the winners before they we awarded,” said Jennifer Landon, a senior at Walpole High.

Best Hair: Genna Swanson and Dan King

Best Smile: Madison Kelley and Cam Benoit

Best Looking: Meghan Murphy and Craig Hanley

Best Dressed: Jacqueline Reilly and David Nguyen

Best Laugh: Hope Kelley and Dan Meyers

Best Facial Expressions: Kim Ciardello and Bobby Gay

Friendliest: Rebecca Goula and Justin Connolly

Secret Crush: Molly McDonough and Casey McGuill

Class Clown: Shannon Cullen and James Cullinane

Class Flirt: Katie Cavaca and Joey Petruzziello

Most School Spirit: Christina Freiberger and Tim Conley

Most Athletic: Stephanie Desantis and Zach Ganshirt

Most Sarcastic: Kayla Sweeney and Tyler Creighton

Most Likely to be a Movie Star: Kellie Jo McCann and Luke Witherell

Most Likely to be Late: Casey Ricci and Marvin Jean-Simon

Most Likely to Get Caught Using their Cell Phones: Kim Keeman and Sam Piccirilli

Most Likely to End Up on the Real World: Michelle Radoccia and Maxwell Goggin

Most Likely to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: Jennifer Landon and Kyle Celentano