As graduation is quickly approaching, seniors have been spending quite a bit of time reflecting on their high school years. High school is filled with many memories and monumental moments in a person’s life. There are a lot of influences and factors that can change a person’s life in high school. During this bittersweet time, some HAHS seniors have been asked which class they have ever taken at Hamburg is their favorite.

     Sara Fitzgerald, a graduating senior, chose publications as her favorite class at HAHS. Publications, taught by Mrs. McCarthy, is a class where students write for the school newspaper and help design the Pinnacle. Sara has taken publications every year she has attended Hamburg, which includes grades 10, 11, and 12. This class is her favorite because it gives her the freedom and creativity to do things she likes. She enjoys that she can choose the topics for her articles as long as she can relate them to Hamburg. 

     Sara’s favorite part about the class was coming up with the theme for the Pinnacle and watching it come to life. When asked what her favorite memory was in this class, a few moments came to mind for each year that Sara took publications. During her first year taking the class, she met Lonasia Tolbert who graduated last year. It was just she and Lonasia and they would always have the best time in class. In her Junior year, Sara would talk with Hailey and Deja, other publications students, and was able to relax and collaborate with them. Her favorite memory from her senior year has to be the funny comments and moments with freshman Landon Poulios. Sara finishes off by saying, “There have been so many good times and laughs in this one library.” 

     She decided to take publications when she transferred schools because of her sister, Lyndsay. When Sara’s sister was in high school, she was involved in the Pinnacle and Sara always found it interesting.  Sara encourages students to take publications. Even though there are some learning curves, the longer someone takes it the easier it gets and leaves more room for creative writing.

     Cadence Jalbert, another senior at HAHS, picked Music Major as her favorite class. Music Major or Music Theory is taught by Mrs. Kline, who is one of Cadence’s favorite teachers. She took this class every other day during her junior year. This class was her favorite since it was taught by Mrs. Kline, but also because it is unlike any other class at Hamburg. The things taught in this class are specific to Cadence’s interests and are not something that everyone can learn easily.

     One of her favorite parts about the class was that there were only three students total: Cadence, Ian Fink, and Clayton Lash. This made the class more personal and enjoyable since the class could be set to the level of theory they already had. Cadence has a bunch of favorite memories from Music Theory, but she enjoyed it when the boys were absent since it was like a one-on-one music session with Mrs. Kline. Sometimes they would also get snacks and drinks since it was before lunch and they were hungry. Cadence recalls one time when Mr. Kline came in and went on a rant about Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift which made them all laugh.

     The top reason Cadence chose to take this elective was because she was highly considering majoring in music in college. Taking this class would help her see more into that. Plus, Cadence enjoys anything to do with music so she knew this would be an enjoyable class. To take Music Theory, students must be taking another music course and they should have a decent understanding of music, notes, and scales. Cadence says this class is an amazing class for students who are really into music and considering majoring in music in college.