According to Ms. Marchis, who was in charge of the senior carnival, not enough people paid to participate in the activity and that’s why it was first cancelled. “There needed to be around 300 people,” she explained. However, with approval from the District Office, the senior carnival still took place. It was held on the soccer field on Thursday, April 16th. They had a guarded “VIP” section for all the students that had already paid. Security guards and ASB students checked wristbands to make sure those who paid for the VIP section were the only ones to enter—though people did manage to sneak in. At the carnival, there was a mechanical bull, THE BLOB, a Climb ‘N Dangle, a Twister game on an inflatable jumper, a bungee run, jousting, a gladiator dome, obstacle challenges, raffles, bands, and prizes. Two students were lucky enough to win surf boards. For students who wanted to get it into the “VIP” section, but did not fundraise or donate twenty dollars before, they were still able to pay twenty-five dollars to join the VIP section. Many students felt differently about the senior carnival. “I was expecting more,” Maribel Rivera admitted. Robert Avila, on the other hand, thought the senior carnival “was actually fun. At first I thought it was going be boring but it turned out to be fun. And we all had a blast at the carnival.”
On the 14th—which was the first day of CST (California State Testing)—there was a college and career fair called “Making Career and College Count” sponsored by Monster.com. Poirier, ASB director, said that there was an attorney, a logistics coordinator, a professor, a parole agent, a mayor (our mayor, Mark Nuaimi), a cosmetologist, a registered nurse, a chef, and many more professionals. The mayor talked about “making a difference” and how the actions we make affect Fontana. He talked about his younger years and his struggles he encountered on the way of becoming who he is today. “Seniors liked him last year,” said Poirier. Students were able to talk to at least four professionals each in “roundtable sessions”. There were also representatives from trade schools and junior colleges.
Wednesday was about graduation where every question was answered. Poirier went over the Code of Ethics, reviewed attendance requirements, and talked about the dress code for the commencement ceremony. Also, a Disneyland representative came to Kaiser and showed the seniors what to expect on Grad night. He held contests and gave out T-shirts and special prizes. One of the contests was especially for dancers where several of the seniors battled each other. Another contest required some seniors to stand in the middle of the gym and take pictures of themselves.
In previous years, seniors just sat in the gym for twelve hours doing absolutely nothing. Poirier referred to it as “baby-sitting”. This year seniors actually had the privilege of learning a few things instead of just “wasting time”.
So what did the seniors think of the activities?
“I thought it was helpful in ways…” Janine Santos-Sunga said about the career fair.
“The Senior carnival was fun. I liked the bands and the bull. The career fair was very good. I liked when the mayor talked,” said Melissa Ramirez
Many of the seniors’ opinions vary. Some of the seniors “didn’t thing the carnival was that great”. “I was expecting more,” said Maribel Rivera.
For the most part, seniors preferred participating in the activities, thus making CST week useful.