Before Matt Jones took over as principal in 2012, the senior classes have maintained a tradition: the annual senior gift. A senior gift is a donation made by graduating seniors to their high school as a way of giving back and supporting future students. Each year, the senior class officers raise enough money to buy the gift as well as providing for the senior class picnic.
“When I became principal, that tradition was well underway,” Jones said. “Whichever class started the gifting, set that bar, so the next class wanted the opportunity to give back and make it part of their legacy. The class officers develop the idea and then work with the sponsor to run it by me. Over the years, some classes get donations or do small fundraisers to pay for it.”
As the new school year came around, Class of 2024 sponsor and instructional coach Grace Scott stated that they went back and forth on what to do for the senior gift.
“We kicked around ideas all year,” Scott said. “I’ve been the class sponsor for the last four years, and we definitely started leaning towards what we wanted when we met in August of this school year. Omar had a connection with Adrian Gazcon, and he threw the idea out of doing a mural for the class.”
Scott was also the class sponsor for the Class of 2019. At the beginning of her becoming the class sponsor for the Class of 2024, there was not much the class officers could do because of COVID-19.
“We weren’t really able to do much the first couple years of high school as far as fundraising and getting out into the community,” Scott said. “So, there was a little challenge financially on what we could do, but it all worked out really well.”
Class President and senior Omar Ruiz stated he contacted Gazcon as soon as the class officers all agreed on the mural in the Berry Bean Coffee Shop.
“The process wasn’t too complicated,” Ruiz said. “I contacted Adrian, and we set up a date for him to come look at the Berry Bean. Once he did, he started working on the sketch. Adrian and I met again, and we discussed the sketch with Mr. Jones, which he gladly approved. From there, it was all Adrian.”
The process of the mural took about two weeks to complete according to Ruiz. The inspiration behind the mural was Gazcon’s Mexican American heritage, his pride as a Berry, and current events from this school year.
“This mural motivated me to execute something special and meaningful,” Gazcon said. “That will hopefully inspire future students to accomplish their goals and to find what they are passionate about. When I was a student at LHS, my dream was to become an artist. It was very hard at first to achieve those goals. But with hard work, passion, dedication and discipline, anything is possible. I never would’ve imagined doing a project like this when I was in high school. Fast forward a couple years after high school, I became the first person in my family to graduate college and the first to become a teacher. I never gave up trying to accomplish being the artist I wanted to be when I was younger. So, hopefully I can inspire those to keep going and never give up on their dreams.”
The Class of 2024’s senior gift was focused more on the solar eclipse.
“Adrian mentioned how he believed that this design was a cumulation of all his work and that everything he did was meant to lead him here,” Ruiz said. “He mentioned hope for students and especially older students from his time as a teacher. A huge inspiration came from the solar eclipse that occurred earlier this year, and its design is central to this design.”
Leaving a mark is something a class wants to accomplish. As students walk into the Berry Bean, the Class of 2024 will not be forgotten according to senior Payton Mucker.
“I think the students will really enjoy art in the Student Union,” Mucker said. “We were the first class with access to the new and improved Student Union. We lost it during our freshman year, and now with our senior year, we finally have full access to the space. The mural is located within the Berry Bean and could use an element of art made by our own LHS artist. I’m really excited to leave a mark for this class, lasting many years to come.”
As each year is presented with a new senior gift, many memories are made and symbols throughout the school.
“Each gift is unique and special and leaves a lasting memory of each class,” Jones said. “I’ll walk by a rock or the ‘L’ outside the Berry Bowl and think back to that year and the students from that class. There are so many and all are nice additions to our campus. I’ll have to admit, Adrian’s mural is off-the-charts amazing.”
