The senior walk, a neglected tradition in which seniors parade the halls on the last day of school, will be brought back thanks to Principal Jerry Mayes as a plan for him to bring good closure to the seniors.

The senior walk used to be traditional at Manual when Mayes was here as a science teacher from 1995 to 2002, but it got put to an abrupt halt due to some vandalism that took place.

“Right now it’s all talk, but I’m trying to bring some things back traditionally,” Mayes said. “I’m all about building culture. Whether it’s me dressing up like Santa Claus and giving out candy canes, whether it’s playing music on the intercom, whether it’s the cell phone policy, I believe in being rigorous but having fun doing it.”

The walk would be at the very end of the year, and it would essentially be a parade of seniors through the hallway. The senior walk is still a tradition at several surrounding high schools, including Pleasure Ridge Park, where Mayes previously held an administrative position.

In addition, Mayes wishes to also introduce a tradition that he discovered at PRP, in which seniors would have the opportunity to attach heartfelt messages to carnation flowers and give them to their teachers.

“At the end of your senior year, you’re looking back at the long journey, and there are some people that touch your lives while you’re in this building,” Mayes said. “It’s kind of a way for the seniors to go out and say ‘thank you’ in a symbolic way.”

Mayes first asked the seniors about their opinion on the matter which he believes is top priority. He plans on getting teacher insight further down the road.

“I think it’s a really great idea because it’s a way for the seniors to leave their word on the influential teachers they’ve had in the past,” Danielle Dorsey (12) said.

“It’s kind of expected because it seems like all the other high schools are already doing that so it seems like an obvious thing to do,” Kinsey Ball (12) said. “But I don’t think we need to be doing it just for that reason.”