Senior Survivor Part 2

See Part 1 here

Superintendent Mary Marshall made a statement on May 5 about the cancellation of Senior Survivor.

Marshall said, “I know many people were disappointed that Senior Survivor was cancelled early.  Sometimes situations arise that take time to look into. The time of the evening was certainly a contributing factor to the decision.  By the time administrators were called, it was quite late to conduct and conclude an investigation.  I know many students are disappointed, and I hope that students will still take time celebrate the work that was done to raise funds for the tornado relief fund.”

The investigation mentioned was evaluating the incident that happened Tuesday evening and lead to the cancellation of Senior Survivor.

According to all of seniors who were present during the night in question, after the incident with science teacher Jessica Kreeger, she and social studies teacher Ryan Baese, the other overnight supervisor, locked themselves in a room to talk. All of the students present also said they immediately tried to apologize to Kreeger and Baese, but since they wouldn’t come out of the room, the seniors sat in the hallway for two hours, not knowing what to do.

Kreeger confirmed she and Baese did lock themselves in a room together for the better part of two hours. She also said, however, it wasn’t two full hours. She said she and Baese were out and about in the hallway for a little while, and she was in the bathroom for a few minutes, but then they went into a classroom.

Kreeger also said she stayed in the room until Koenig showed up, but Baese left the room a couple of times. There was no contact or communication between the students and the teachers during this time, and she said she and Baese left the school to go home around 12:30 a.m.

Senior Zach Whidby thought that a resolution could have been reached if the survivors were allowed to communicate with their supervisors better.

He said, “Everything would have been fixed if they let us in. We could have apologized. They just immediately called Koenig; they just put a cap on it. They just ended it because (Kreeger) wouldn’t stop crying. We decided as a group to, you know, just make it right. They wouldn’t talk to us for two hours, so at that point, by the time Koenig came to kick us out of the school, it was around 12:30. He had us write a statement, like of what happened, didn’t ask us questions. Just told us, ‘Seniors Survivor’s canceled; call your parents. You’re going home.’ When we called our parents, it was 1 a.m. in the morning.”

Koenig said he would make no comment except for the press release from Moran.

Regardless, the seniors who were there that night are hoping for another statement that will bring clarity to the situation.

Waidley said in frustration, “If there is a reason why there has been no announcement made, and no clarification made, we don’t know it. We don’t know the reason why. No one has ever told us, so we are still waiting for why. Why has there not been a clarification?”

Senior survivor Andrew Gibson was not happy with the administration’s lack of a clarifying statement either.

He said, “I know at 1 a.m. in the morning when my parents came to pick me up, my mom’s first question to the administrator present was about what are you going to do in regards to informing the student body. And there was nothing said at all to students.”

And Waidly said the more she thinks about it the more frustrated she becomes.

She said, “We seriously put so much effort into this, and I know student council spent like all year planning this, and it just gets ended.”

Whidby agrees.

He said, “I just wanted to finish it obviously, and I think I could have won it. And I know Mary and I tried hard. It’s just the fact how much effort we put into it, just fund raising those weeks. Getting the shirts printed. It was a lot of work, and it’s just a shame”

In addition, Waidley said she is anxious to hear if Senior Survivor will happen next year.

Waidley said “I hope they do it again. I mean it was really fun. I mean we raised $15,600. That’s a lot of money. But the point is, I know (Mortensen) and I spent every single day, all day, fund raising. I am sure every other team did the same. We did all that we could, and the community helped us to raise $15,600. And it just ends.”

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