De Soto High School will be having its first annual Grad Fest on May 20 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be many fun games and prizes for the seniors.

It has been a crazy year for everyone, and seniors have not had the fun senior year they expected due to COVID-19. In an attempt to make it a little bit better, Principal Sam Ruff came up with the idea to have a Grad Fest.

Senior class sponsor Caroline Friday talks about why they are starting this event for our seniors.

“It’s a great idea to help celebrate the class of 2021 because they have missed out on so much this year,” Friday said. “We want to make sure we do something special to celebrate them.” 

The seniors will have a chance to win a variety of great prizes including TV’s, a Keurig coffee maker, a mini fridge, a microwave, a blender and various gift cards.

This event will be enjoyed by all seniors as the hope is to send everybody home with a prize. 

The Grad Fest is comparative to an elementary school field day.

“When you think back to elementary field day in elementary school, probably one of the best days of your childhood memories, and think about field day for seniors,” Friday said.

Although this is the first year of the Grad Fest at DHS, they hope to make it a new school tradition and host it annually. It will become something all underclassmen look forward to for their senior year.

Friday has been working hard to put this together for the senior class with the help of other seniors and the booster club.

“The senior class officers as well as many other senior students have helped many times during Seminar and after school have put in a lot of work to figure everything out,” Friday said.

The DHS Booster Club has been a big help in funding this event. Their main impact has been with purchasing prizes for the kids to win at the Grad Fest.

Friday and all those involved in the event are doing a great thing for not only the class of 2021, but also the senior classes in the years to come.