“We didn’t start the fire! / It was always burning / since the world’s been turning! / We didn’t start the fire! / But when we are gone / it will still burn on and on … ”

- From “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel

It is early June and the 2023-2024 academic year has come to an end. This past school year has certainly gone out with a bang, with many events taking place over the past few months leading up to the graduation of the class of 2024.

Any seniors who had expressed interest in speaking during graduation attended a meeting with Ms. Sage, Freedom’s principal, in the principal’s conference room in the main office April 2. All interested seniors were given a briefing on how to submit their preliminary speeches for the upcoming faculty and student tryouts later in the month.

The Class of 2024 held a dues drive April 2 to 5 outside the cafeteria. Seniors were to pay their $50 class dues in cash, check, or payment order made out to Freedom High School.

The Photography Club hosted a bake sale and Polaroid sale during all lunches from April 3 to 5. The club sold baked goods for $1 and $2 or Polaroid photos for $3 each.

Tickets for this year’s prom went on sale April 8 and continued to be sold until May 17. Each ticket cost $90. Students who wished to buy them had to make sure that their class dues were paid before purchasing their ticket. A guest form was also needed to be filled out in order for attendants to bring a guest from outside Freedom.

Students Against Destructive Decisions members held a bake sale April 8 and 9 to raise money to further their efforts in assisting students suffering from stressful situations.

Students who expressed interest in being a candidate for either the faculty or student graduation speaker submitted their tryout speeches to Principal Sage April 11 for review before tryouts. Submissions were accepted physically or as electronic documents with Freedom’s main office staff printing out speeches if requested.

The winners of the National Honor Society Altruism Awards were informed about what awards they received April 12, with Jon Chiu winning the award for scholarship, Dania Younies for service, Phoebe Cunningham for leadership and Nicholas Moniz for character.

The Freedom HS Theater Company presented its spring performance of “42nd Street” and was met with wide support with all seats being sold out.

A group of 385 eighth grade students from East Hills, Northeast and Broughal middle schools came to Freedom April 15 as part of the annual move-up day, meant to introduce a glimpse of what high school life has to offer. Current high school students led several groups on a school tour and the gym was converted to host a club fair hosted by students who volunteered to represent some of the organizations that Freedom has to offer.

Students who had expressed interest in running for the position of faculty graduation speaker gave their arguments during tryouts, with Nathaniel Sletvold being chosen to represent Freedom’s faculty during graduation.

The seniors convened in the auditorium April 19 to elect a student speaker for graduation, with Jon Chiu being selected.

The National Honor Society held a bake sale April 23. a day for sophomores interested in applying to become inductees. Juniors were also allowed to participate in the bake sale, regardless of membership in the NHS. All students who participated in the bake sale received community service hours for their work.

Several colleges from the surrounding area convened in the main gym April 24 to help educate sophomores and juniors on the next steps in their education. Several seniors also volunteered to direct college representatives to the main gym from the main entrance of the school.

Occurring alongside the college fair, the National Honors Society held its final blood drive for the 2023-2024 school year with Miller-Keystone blood bank.

Freedom’s band also performed its spring concert well into the night with their theme of “Tour across America,” which took inspiration from music from across the country with a few examples being Chicago, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; Sedona, Arizona and more.

The Foods and You class held its biannual chili cook off event April 25. Several teams were organized and worked to create their own unique chili recipes for others to try, with team 3 winning the competition.

Seniors who participated on sports teams announced the colleges they plan to attend following their graduation, April 26.

Freedom’s orchestra also held its concert later that day, where those in attendance were treated to classical pieces from Bach, Tchaikovsky and other composers.

Class of 2024 members held their senior spirit week May 6 to 10 with various themes: Monday, “Senioritis” day when seniors wore pajamas; Tuesday, “Little You Day” with seniors dressed as they would when they were younger; Wednesday, “Walking Yearbook Day” with seniors wearing white shirts to be signed using sharpie markers; Thursday, “Future Career Day” with seniors dressing up as the careers they plan on entering; and Friday, a day when seniors were given the opportunity to represent the colleges they planned on attending by wearing any college-themed clothing.

A seniors-only career fair was arranged at ArtsQuest May 7. Seniors met many prospective employers from around the Lehigh Valley.

An academic awards ceremony May 8 celebrated seniors who had gone above and beyond in their work at Freedom High School.

Keystone testing took place May 13 to 15. Students who did not need to take these tests did not need to attend school during these days.

Class of 2026 members held a car wash May 18 to raise money for their class.

Senior Skip Day took place May 20.

Senior finals took place May 23 and 24 with two finals per day. Any senior who did not have final exams on these two days did not need to go to school. Seniors completing their finals did not need to go to school until graduation rehearsals in June.

Following the end of senior finals, Freedom’s prom kicked off shortly after at SteelStacks with the theme, “the Roaring 20s.” Several activities were provided during the event, such as a DJ, video gaming room, refreshments and much more. The prom court was introduced, with Tyler Marshall and Ellie Kashner being crowned as prom king and queen, respectively.

Seniors who needed to make up a final exam for any reason were given the opportunity to do so on May 28. Seniors not needing to take a make up exam did not need to attend school that day.

Students submitting up to 200 hours of community service were celebrated at a community service dinner May 31. Students who attended were recipients of awards as well for their hard work.

Seniors who expressed an interest were invited to attend a senior breakfast June 3 before the beginning of senior graduation rehearsals.

Class of 2024 members participated in graduation rehearsals June 3 to 5, at both Freedom and Lehigh University’s Stabler Arena, where they received their caps, gowns and graduation cords.

The graduation ceremony for the class of 2024 June 5 included several speeches, the receiving of diplomas by the seniors present, and other festivities.

The underclassmen also had a busy week, with finals for freshmen, sophomores and juniors taking block 3 and 4 exams June 4 and block 1 and 2 exams June 5, with June 6 being a make up day.