As the school year draws to a close, students start to get hyped for the end of the year. On Friday, June 1, students will have their final day of semester tests before leaving school for the summer. There’s just one thing missing: A chance for friends and teachers to say goodbye. The last day of school ends with a very anti-climatic scene: tired students finishing their semester tests. Some of us are just fed up.

While some are enthusiastic about the last day of school, others regret the fact that they will not be able to say their goodbyes to their friends and teachers. In Sioux Falls middle schools, the last day of school is dedicated to partying and relaxing while friends and mentors sign yearbooks and exchange fond memories from the year. Though one could argue that high school is meant for studying rather than socializing, our peers remain an important part of our everyday lives. Sophomore Annika Joyce describes some potential ways our school system could implement a time to say goodbye.

“Testing could be a day earlier so we would have an off day Friday,” said Annika Joyce. “It would be more useful to be a half day and I assume no one would want to stay a full day, a lot of people wouldn’t.”

With the implication or replacement of the final day of school with a half day, students could interact with their peers, say goodbye to their teachers and make plans for over the summer and beyond. Many Sioux Falls school district students are often overloaded with work in the remaining weeks of school in the form of packets, quizzes and makeup assignments. Testing on the last day of the school may be a thing of the past. The future lies at the hands of the student’s willpower and drive to get what they want implemented into our school.