A girl strides onto the Bowie campus, excited to begin her senior year. Written on her shirt is the word “SENIORS” in a bold and colorful font. As she enters the courtyard, she would notice the rest of the senior girls dressed in matching shirts that all proclaimed that they were now in their final year of highschool. 

Senior shirts have been a longstanding tradition for senior girls, and they are just one of many special occurrences that make senior year a fun experience. As the Class of 2021 begins to create their own senior shirts, the Class Shirt Committee has announced that for the first time, senior shirts will be designed and sold for guys as well. 

“We decided to design senior shirts for guys this year because we noticed last year that some of the guys coordinated their shirts on the first day of school, so we decided to make it easy for them and just make some,” Class Shirt Committee member junior Lexi Hertel said. “Also we wanted [to design] something they can wear for red, black and white out.” 

In order to promote the new shirts for guys, the Class Shirt Committee has created an Instagram account, @seniorguys2021, that will be updated with more information as it is available.

“From what I have seen in the past with the senior girls shirts, pretty much every girl gets it, and it kind of unites all of them and is an important tradition,” junior Wes Wasserburger said. “I have no preference for the actual designs, but I trust in the designers to do a good job.”

Hertel explained that the committee hopes to create three final designs for the senior shirts, one of which will be a black jersey. 

“I love watching the committee work together and come up with ideas for the shirts,” Class Shirt Committee Sponsor Cathie Johnson-Landers said. “The shirts allow the seniors to show that they are now seniors, and I know that they are something that the students always look forward to each year.”  

When the committee finalizes the cost for the senior shirts, the information will be shared via the committee’s Instagram and an update to this story on The Dispatch.

“My favorite part of the design process is just looking for ideas. There are so many [designs] to choose from and we have to keep in mind what guys would like and what they would not like,” Hertel said. “Senior shirts are an important tradition because it just shows everyone that we have worked three hard years to be a senior, and it shows that we only have one more year of our high school careers.”