Here at Tahoma High School, there are a wide variety of end-of-year traditions for students to experience. One of the most familiar is Spring Fling, when students get their yearbooks and participate in activities.

However, most students don’t know the level of work that is needed to make Spring Fling a success. School leadership has to work hard, finding a way to distribute yearbooks to thousands of students while also providing an enjoyable experience.

According to Amy O’Leary, a THS leadership teacher who helps with Spring Fling, coordinating Spring Fling means balancing several factors. 

Leadership teachers and students are “thinking about activities that could be fun for students to do”, while also keeping in mind cost and safety. In addition, everything has to be approved by the administration. 

While the Spring Fling activities are a relatively recent addition, yearbook distribution at Spring Fling has been going on for many years. Given the complexity of distributing thousands of yearbooks during the already stressful  final month of school, O’Leary feels that “Spring Fling is really helpful” when it comes to yearbook distribution.

For the students experiencing it, Spring Fling can certainly be a unique event. The most clear example of this is the yearbook distribution, which can be quite hectic. According to THS student Maya DeFrance, who received her yearbook during Spring Fling,  it was often “hard to see” the lines where students were supposed to stand. She believed that “yearbook distribution could be improved”, although that may be difficult given the immense logistical challenges of the whole operation.

Despite this, Spring Fling can still be a good event. DeFrance described the overall experience as alright. While yearbook distribution can take center stage, Spring Fling is unique for other reasons (such as the outdoor activities in the nice weather, or the adapted schedule that lets students out early.) All in all, it’s nice for students to have a different type of school day once in a while, especially as summer gets even closer.