It’s almost graduation time for seniors who have spent the last 12 years of their lives preparing for their adult lives in the professions they have chosen to follow.

They say goodbye to their classmates. Most will join the work force. Others will go on to college, and the less fortunate will face an ordeal of job hunting.

It is a sad time for some who breezed through the curricular courses without a problem. It is relief time for those who struggled through their courses in quest of their diplomas.

But in future days, the memories of school days will always be pleasant ones. At least they were for us who faced the same dilemmas decades ago.

The closing activities – class day, baccalaureate services and commencement – seemed to launch us right into adulthood.

Today, graduation still is an impressive rite. Baccalaureate services have been discontinued because of the separation of religion from public school.

The one thing we remember most was Class Day. Next to graduation day it was the most important day for seniors. It was the day when we released pent-up tensions final exams and commencement preparations and bid farewell to classmates in a rousing manner.

It is not really as rousing today as it was in our day. Riding around in the valley in crepe paper trimmed automobiles, blowing horns, occasionally leaving a white-washed reminder of the class, and the picnic or outing that usually ended the day are the only similarities of class days of the past.

The violence and pranks we looked on as he-man fun have been toned down over the years.

Class Day activities started the night before graduation as gangs of juniors and seniors roamed the streets, equipped with buckets of whitewash and brushes. Today, the picnics that usually ended the day, are the only similarities with class days of the past.

Things toned down when class day arrived. It started with a farewell assembly. Girls in the class (and a few boys) sobbed when the principal and superintendent gave their farewell speeches.

When the program was over, classmates took to their cars that were decorated with crepe streamers in class colors.

The horn-tooting rides ended at an ice cream plant, which treated the celebrating class to Dixie Cups.

The afternoon brought the traditional outing at Idora Park in Youngstown.

The tired seniors returned home that evening, dreaming of caps and gowns and graduation, which usually came several days later.