The final weeks for seniors included traditional activities of Prom, Honors Night, and the Senior Barbeque. Graduation was on May 22, at 7:30 PM. The ceremony for the Class of 2023 was once again held at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb. This is the link to the video is below.

The Class of 2023 was invited to share their post-graduation plans with the X-ray staff through a senior survey that was sent out by school email and also through the LRC requests.
The sidebar lists plans as shared by the students through May 16. If there are corrections needed, please share them with us on the website’s comment link for this story.

(Video courtesy of St. Charles East High School and D303.)

The following is a running list of many of the “favorite things” that our seniors shared with the X-ray through the senior survey. More than 100 seniors responded.
Homecoming week, Senior Prom, all my Water Polo seasons, football games, creating a lifelong friendship with Mr. Straiker and every opportunity I’ve had to work and learn something from him, going to all of the sports events, Sophomore year soccer season, Sophomore year when the entire school was allowed back in person and I got to see so many friends and teachers for the first time since covid, the kid last year riding around in a kayak for anything but a backpack day, Leadership Studies class, slowly getting to meet and know everyone in the senior class, online learning, I loved waking up later and being able to bake/cook during my classes, going to state for volleyball and being apart of the volleyball team for the past 4 years, being a part of the wonderful choir program here, being on the Cross Country team, Small Games!!, Homecoming 2022 – 2023, having fun with the guys on the Cross Country and Track teams, giving my banquet slide presentation at the Dance Team Banquet, making new friends & hoco week events, playing among us in breakout rooms during quarantine, Richter just constantly jump scaring us in the halls because he looks like a student sometimes, Junior year HOCO, senior homecoming, winning 1st in Computer Programming at a SkillsUSA State Competiton this year, post prom my senior year, winning all of the hoco small games as seniors, homecoming week with spiderman, winning the senior homecoming volleyball game, being an assembly MC for senior homecoming week, competing on the Engine team, the people that I have met through the clubs and activities I did throughout high school, all memories with friends, playing tennis, winning the first home football game as a senior, getting to be a TA in the 3D media room, Mr Bulman exploded a pumpkin, being on the tennis team with amazing girls and amazing coaches, meeting a bunch of new people when I transferred here last year, attending the prom dances and going to all of the football games with friends, playing volleyball at East, all of the new friends and memories I made in theatre, Jazz Band, Freshman year student council going to feed my starving children and the person doing the tutorial saying “beg” instead of “bag,” and all day Mr Zary saying “give me the beg!!”, going on a college fair trip with my AVID class, every homecoming week, pit orchestra performances, school spirit weeks, Sectional Meet 2022-2023 Swim Season, meeting new people, senior year homecoming week, lunchtime with friends, meeting up with my friends after class, small games, cheering on my teammates on the track team at sectionals, playing on the golf team, graduation, performing onstage in the NCAC, for music and for theater, Kevin the goose (the honorary student of 5th period second semester creative writing workshop last year), going to St. Louis with Halo Yearbook, the social environment in all of my classes over every year but our quarantined year, the friends I made along the way, any football games and the week before a dance,getting closer with all of my friends mostly through track, submitting work and receiving awards at a student film festival, getting to see my people mostly every day, romantic relationships….