Senior Girls’ Lounge Promotes Community
If you peek into the girls’ locker area back window; you will see twinkling lights, bean bag chairs and a colorful string curtain filling up the back area. In honor of their last year spent together, the senior girls put together a lounge in the back of the girls’ locker bay, making the space much more homey and enjoyable.
The girls’ locker area has not proven to be the most spacious room while all the girls of ICJA come rushing in to put their books away during lunch or free periods. Sitting on the floor of the locker bay means it was likely to be stepped on by other girls passing by. Avital Raff and the entire senior class came to the rescue! Avital says, “My friends spent a lot of time in the locker bay area during free periods and lunch and we wanted to make it cozy and accessible for our whole grade to hang out.” The idea was to completely turn this uncomfortable area around and make the locker bay into the perfect hang out spot by creating the senior lounge.
This new “lounge” consists of three bean bags where one can do homework, watch TV, take a nap, or just simply hang out with friends. Kayla Bulgatz contributed to the decorating process by bringing in pretty lights that hang across the wall. Of course, there is a food locker where the senior girls can bring in baked goods or snacks for their classmates to share. This new lounge has not only made the locker room look nicer, it has also made the locker room feel nicer, roomier and more enjoyable. A senior at YULA in Los Angeles heard about it and says, “The Ida Crown senior lounge has been an inspiration for YULA students, and I am thinking of creating our own senior lounge by our lockers.” Seems like the ICJA seniors have made an impact across the country!
Senior Daniella Lakser says the senior lounge has allowed her and her friends to bond together because they can hang out in the locker room in a comfortable space. This is really significant because it is important for the seniors to have strong connections with each other before they go off into the “real” world.
The freshman, sophomore, and junior girls have something to look forward to as they reach this pivotal year in their high school days. Students in other grades have also had positive feedback to say about the senior girls’ lounge. The lounge not only affects the atmosphere of the school, but younger grades are excited for their chance to create a senior lounge their senior year at ICJA. “I am looking forward to hanging out with my friends in this cute area designated for seniors in two years from now,” says sophomore Ruby Grant. Junior Adina Arnet says, “It is a great idea for the seniors to have something special just for them and a place designated to hang out, so they can spend their last year together bonding as much as possible.”
Who knows, maybe over the next few years the senior lounge will be filled with even more accessories like posters and whiteboards to contribute to the seniors’ bonding before they go off in different directions. This is only the beginning of how the students of ICJA have established 8233 Central Park Ave as home.
This article was written by The Crown Prints by Anna Jacoby.