For the first time in years, the lunch bell at HHS rings with the sound of freedom for seniors.
Administrators have officially reinstated senior privileges, giving the Class of 2026 the long-awaited opportunity to leave campus for lunch, restoring a defining tradition to their senior year.
For the students that qualify, popular places that most students go to are local places like Quick Trip, McDonald’s, imo’s, or Chick-fil-A. With these establishments being in close range to campus, it is easy for students to make their way back on time.
“I think the decision came out of the discussions that happened around the cell phone ban,” Principal David Williams said. “As we were talking through that, somebody had the idea of bringing back senior privileges, thinking, ‘Hey, you know what, if [seniors] had privileges, they could go off campus and use their phones then,’ and that sort of sparked the idea this year.”
This decision signifies a renewed trust between the school and the Class of 2026, according to the administration, which supported this change.
“I think it’s a perfect class to try this out with just because of the level of mutual trust and the responsibility that most of you guys have shown,” Principal David Williams said.
Williams started out at HHS in the 2022-2023 school year, with the class of 2026 being freshmen then.
“[When] I think of you guys, you have really helped more than any other grade level in reshaping the culture of our school, really,” Williams said. “Since you guys came in as freshmen, this is a class where I trust the majority of the kids in this class, and I think the majority of the kids actually trust me and trust the teachers as well.”
This being the first class to have them in years, these privileges have been a hard thing to earn here at HHS, as previous classes have wanted them for years.
“It makes me feel really proud of us because I feel like it shows that he trusts us enough to bring [privileges] back,” Senior Payton Clark said. “I feel like us as a class have just done so much together to make this school a better place.”
With the class of ’26 being the first in years to earn these privileges, Williams is not opposed to extending these privileges to future seniors.
“As long as it works, we’ll see how it goes, and how many kids qualify,” Williams said. “I honestly think it’s a really good incentive for seniors to get good grades and to be on top of attendance.”
Senior students are motivated to stay on top of their grades and their behavior to be able to maintain these privileges.
“I think with the privileges being in place, it does make me want to keep my grades up and do well in the classroom because I want to be able to have the freedoms that come with being a senior,” Senior Christian Brooks said.
Not all seniors automatically get these privileges; they have to continue to earn them. Throughout the year, students must maintain a 3.5 HOWL score average, a 2.5 grade average, and 90% attendance. Vice Principal, Elijah Phillips, is in charge of keeping track of all incentive-based things for HHS.
“At Hancock High School, I am the Greek God of spreadsheets,” Phillips said. “I pull data from Infinite Campus, like students’ term GPA, their attendance, and aggregate.”
The scores are tracked by Phillips and updated weekly.
“They might have privileges this week, but they may lose them next week. So I think because we use a running report, it makes it fair for everybody,” Williams said.
The privileges have been instated for about 6 weeks now, and they started around early October so the school could get some grades in, and HOWL score data to be able to determine who is allowed to participate.
“We have such a wonderful school and such a great student body, and we were giving a pretty strong show of trust to the senior class by having this implemented,” Phillips said. “Everyone’s been awesome, I have no concerns whatsoever at this moment.”
The decision to bring back these long-awaited senior privileges signified trust between the students and staff, furthering the continuation of building on the school culture, and helping enhance the seniors’ experience in their final year.
“I’m hoping that it actually empowers seniors, I think you guys want more responsibility, and appreciate it,” Williams said. “So I think even though you can only leave for a short amount of time, I think it shows kids that, hey, we respect you, we hear you.”
