BY EMILY WRIGHT
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — “Have you fallen asleep in a classroom during your senior year?”
“Have you ever cheated on a paper, project or test?”
“Did you kiss your prom date?” Follow up: “Did you kiss someone else’s prom date?”
These are all questions asked of Opelika High School graduating seniors at their annual Senior Dinner and Circle of Life event. This year’s celebration took place at Stone & Ivy on Sunday, May 29.
The OHS senior class officers and parents always plan the event, and Tim Gore has served as “emcee” for 28 of the 29 years since it began in 1995.
“Each [senior class] had their ideas on what they thought would make their dinner uniquely theirs, but what did not change was the activity that every class wanted to continue: the ‘Circle of Life’,” Gore said.
Each year before the event, the senior parents are asked to write down the funny or slightly embarrassing things their students have done while at OHS. Gore then uses that information to create a list of yes-or-no questions to ask the students during the Circle of Life game. At the event, students sit together in a large circle of chairs, and Gore begins to ask his questions. If a student’s answer is yes, they move two chairs to the left. If they do not answer truthfully, their parents and classmates are allowed to call them out.
“Early in the game, the questions are easy, and students say yes most every time,” Gore explained. “But as the Circle of Life continues, there is a good chance that there is someone in the chair that you are supposed to sit in, so you sit in their lap. As the game goes on, there may be a chair that has four, five or even six students sitting in each others’ laps.”
The questions can range from, “Have you ever backed into a parked car in your home driveway?” and “Have you ever rolled a yard in your senior year?” to “Did you leave the campus of OHS without your parents’ or school’s official knowledge?” and “Do you have a tattoo that your parents do not know about?”
Gore said the game is always “a lot of laughs and good-hearted fun,” as well as “very eye-opening for the [OHS] principal and parents that are in attendance.”
The dinner and Circle of Life game serve as a way to celebrate the good times and accomplishments of the OHS senior class each year.
“Even though the students have graduation to go, it just might be the last time that they are all together in a social setting,” Gore said. “The students are so excited throughout this evening, but I enjoy watching the parents as they recognize that this chapter of life is closing. There’s a lot of smiles but also some tears.”
