Jodie De Jesus ’21
On November 12, 2020, Oak Knoll seniors were notified that Head of School Mr. Saburn would be meeting with them the following day for an important announcement. Of course, rumors began to swirl as to what exactly this meeting would entail. Would the school be going virtual for the rest of the year? Was prom being cancelled once again? Considering 2020’s track record thus far, surely anything was possible!
After gathering in the Campion Center the next morning, however, the seniors learned from Mr. Saburn and soon-to-be-successor Mrs. Landis, that it was not school or prom being called off, but rather the annual Senior Fashion Show. With COVID-19 still rampant, it became clear that this school tradition could not occur while still maintaining all safety guidelines.
However, the news did not stop there. The senior class was then told that, after careful thought and deliberation, the administration had decided to do away with the fashion show completely. In other words, the event would not happen for any future seniors moving forward. According to Mrs. Landis, this was a decision that had much to do with supporting the ideas of body image and body positivity amongst the students, especially being an all-girls Upper School.
Though the Fashion Show will surely be missed by many, Mrs. Landis is excited to, with the help and input of students, reimagine it into a different tradition for the seniors. In her announcement, she so eloquently affirmed, “We still want to celebrate the senior class, because you deserve to be celebrated!”