It’s May 2, 2025, and the seniors are getting ready for their last day of high school. The anticipation of graduating has been weighing on them all year now it’s finally here. As they park in the student parking lot and walk up to the entrance, there is a note and envelope taped to the door. The seniors gather around to see the note stating this:
“Hello 2025 graduating seniors and congratulations! While this may be your last day of high school, your journey is not over yet. In fact, in a way, you could say you’ve just begun. I know you are excited to have your senior field day but first let’s have a little fun. You have two hours to complete a series of challenges in order to achieve your senior field day. You will get the next clue after you submit your answer for the previous one. You first clue is in the envelope below. Good luck, time starts now! ~ Class of 2000”
“What could this mean?” Serenity Miller, Joshua Smith, Angel Guevara and Camron Cross asked. “I think we have to follow the clues if we want our senior field day. Let’s see what the first clues is,” Jacob Kingsmore and Evan Taylor replied. Quincy Haywood, Lillie Henson, Sofia Hernandez, Shamiri Jenkins, and Darrion Terrell open the envelop revealing another note and a keyboard flip cell phone. “Whoa, this is cool. A flip phone with a keyboard. I bet my parents had one of these,” Bella Gibbs, Keyon Thomas, and Mario Ymeri state. Robert Weathers, Walker Nunes, Aniyah Means, Ja’Keveious McCluney, and Camron Kendrick open the note and together the seniors read:
“a neW phone modEl was juST released, and everyone was already throwinG their money At companies to buy one. the phone in The envEelope is where you will submit some of your answers. reMember, this was mAde in the year 2000, so you have a limited number of messages you can send. you onLy have enough space to send 5 messages. soLve this clue and send in your answer.”
The seniors took a good look at the note. “There are some letters that are capitalized. What if that’s the clue?” Jefferson Sarimento and Clayton Holmes asked. After some brainstorming, the seniors ask Chariya Moon, Jason Blanton, Sidney Davis, Danielle Tyus, Mason Foster-Peake, Madison Winter, and Isak Jackson to help figure out the clue. “I think this says WestGate Mall. The next clue could be there,” Ruth Kimsey and Kathleen Harvey excitedly claim. The seniors send their answer to the only number saved in the phone and get a reply within the minute:
“Wow that was fast, maybe we should have made this a little harder. Your next clue is at located at the mall.”
Luckily a bus was ready for the seniors to ride wherever they needed. Everyone loaded the bus and headed to the WestGate Mall to find another enveloped taped to the door with a box directly underneath. The next clue wrote:
“The mall is the best place to find your velour tracksuits, uggs, high-top converse, silly bandz, webkinz and rolling backpacks. As well as getting some of the coolest clothes at stores like Hot Topic or Gap. Speaking of tracksuits, our girls’ track and field team were state and region champions this year. Hopefully the track and field are still in good use. For this challenge, you will be replicating their efforts in a 4×400 relay. But this relay comes with a twist. You must be wearing the iconic jelly, clear flip-flops and your baton is the well-loved and known game, Bop it, provided in the box below. Your time must be under 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Split into two even teams and pick who will run. Stay in those teams for the rest of these clues. Now GO! You don’t have all day.”
The seniors load the bus and make their way to the track. They quickly spilt into teams with Team 1 picking Knox Eaton, Margaret Akridge, Natalie Jones, and Jay Demarco to run for them and Team 2 picking Josh Taliaferro, Benjamin Ahern, Perrin Little, and Jennifer Barnica-Lainez. As Dr. McMillan meets them at the fieldhouse, seniors from both teams line up on at the start and everyone waits impatiently for the race to begin. “Ready. Set. GO!” McMillan shouts and they take off in a flash. It’s close throughout the race and flip-flops fly off the runner’s feet. In the end, Team 1 takes the victory with a time of 4 minutes and 20 seconds and Dr. McMillan hands each team their own envelope. Team 1 hastily opens their envelope to find another letter and sheet music. Steven Eggie, Nevaeh Cooley, Chase Stone, Sofia Hernadez, George Gauthier, and Jeremiah Johnson read:
“Congratulations on winning the race! Now that you’ve got your confidence boosted, it’s time for some a little bit more difficult. We hope you brought some instruments with you because it’s time to jam out. Artists like Jay-Z, Britiney Spears and NSYNC are all the rage right now. Inside the envelope, you will find sheet music to one of the popular songs by the artists listed above. You might have to do some singing too. Once you figure out the song title, send in your answer.”
The Team 1 seniors look around and ask Jayden Band, Omner Grinder, Mya Fleifel, Malachi Watts, Ace Johnson, Marissa Correll, Claire Hammond, and Carmen DePaol to help solve the clue. They rush to the band and orchestra rooms to grab their supplies and join on stage in the fine arts center. Meanwhile, team 2 opens their envelope to find another letter and colorless puzzle pieces. “Oh no, this puzzle is going to take forever,” Zoe Gordon, Vonte Brown, Shawn Carolina and Sara DeMarco complained. They read the letter saying this:
“We are so sorry you lost the race, but we hope to make it up to you with this next challenge. Inside the envelope you should find puzzle pieces. With everyone in a panic about what would happen to the computers on New Years, some interesting art was created. We hope you have some coloring materials with you because now you will be creating your own masterpiece. Color all the puzzle pieces based on the numbers and put them together to expose a Y2K and SHS inspired artwork. Send in what was revealed to achieve your final challenge.”
The seniors grabbed the pieces and bolted to the art rooms to grab the necessary tools. Luckily, Ms. Frost had just what they needed. They settled in Valhalla and started getting to work. Teagan McEnroe, Pierce Lake, Halle Abbott, Artemis Brown, Brianna Drummond, and Ava Fleifel helped everyone to make each piece perfect so the puzzle will look how it’s supposed to.
Both teams fought through each of their challenges, but time was slowing becoming their enemy. Suddenly, as the seniors were making breakthroughs in their work, Dr. McMillan’s voice comes through the intercom. “Attention seniors, you only have 15 minutes left,” McMillan spoke. The seniors picked up the pace to complete their mission. Team 1 played the sheet music and Addyson Crocker, John Perez, Chasitity Jeter, William Yeargin, and Georgianna Babbis help figure out that the song was Oops I Did It Again by Britiany Spears. Team 2 put the puzzle together to reveal a vibrant image of the Viking head. “This looks like it was made with Microsoft Paint on Windows 95,” Tyler Kelly, Mya Gaines, Richard Loudenslager, and Jordan Mullins joked. The teams send in their answers on the phone to see this reply:
“You’re almost done! To complete our little game, go to the Arena and you’ll find a golden box with your last clue.”
With adrenaline rushing in their veins, all the seniors rush to arena as quickly as they can to find the golden box resting on the Viking head in the middle of the court. They open the box to find papers, pens, envelopes and the one final clue. “Hurry, open it!” Benjamin Bell, Takarius Dawkins, Avery Porter, Storm Hicklin, Eva Jolly, and Carmon Lee yell. They gather around as Jada Nelson, Maxwell Cash, Manuel Rebolledo, and Lillie Hancock read:
“You made it! I hope you all had a great time with each other and made memories that will last. As your last and final challenge before you enjoy your senior field day, we are handing the crown over. It’s now your turn to create a game for the class of 2050 for their last day of high school. Remember, you only live once, so enjoy these moments together. You never know when you’ll have another opportunity to see each other again.”
She sets down the note and they all look around at each other. “Well, I guess we should get started. We only have 10 minutes left,” Kade Volk, Alexa Odell, Alivia Jefferson, Faith Rodgers, and Vincenzo Skias said. They take out all the supplies and distribute it. “I’m don’t think we can finish this in 10 minutes, it sounds like a lot of work was put into this one,” Emma Patterson and Dontrell Edwards state concerningly. The seniors look around in disappointment, knowing they wouldn’t be able to complete the challenge in time to win their senior field day. “Wait, what if instead of senior going to our senior field day, we just spend the rest of our time working on this,” Jarious Mosley, Stevi Sandor, Cierra Williams, Percell Woodruff and Trail Pierce explain. “That might actually be fun. We could make it the so much better. And like the letter wrote, we should value our time here,” Marian Hammond responds. “Oh yeah, and we could make it some of it virtual too. Who knows the kind of technology they will have in 2050,” Sam Foster, Charles Mitchell, Taggart Wilcox, and Grey Howlett express. Hope starts the to sparkle in the seniors’ eyes again as they know this would be the perfect ending to their high school experience
