West Ranch hosted their annual senior sendoff rally to honor the graduating class of 2026 seniors on May 22. This rally was sentimental for many students as it was their last high school rally before their transition into young adulthood.

This year’s theme for the rally was inspired by “Toy Story,” with the highlight being the movie’s famous quote, “To infinity and beyond!” All around the gymnasium, painted posters hung up as decoration. Preparing for the rally was no easy task, junior ASB Vice President Chloe Yuan explained: “Since the seniors were leaving, a lot of them had to pick up their slack with the ‘senioritis.’” Before the rally, ASB students had to stay late at night to finish their preparations; some members even slept over until the next morning for the annual ASB sleepover tradition.

On the day of the rally, seniors Nadine Fernando, Daniela Lesmana and Chloe Busnawi sang their rendition of the National Anthem which received a round of applause from the audience.

Shortly after, Principal Fisher entered the gymnasium with the spirit stick, hyping up students and faculty for the rally. Each class took part in the traditional “spirit chant” competition, a contest between the classes on who can cheer the loudest. As usual, the seniors cheered the loudest, which made them the winners of this rally’s competition for the last time.

Members of the cheer team showcased their seniors during a section of their performance, receiving enthusiastic cheers from the audience. Similarly, the dance team and hip hop club highlighted their senior members in the middle of the stage throughout their performances, incorporating their original choreography to display and celebrate their members’ last performance.

Each class participated in a cardboard letter block stacking game. Students from each grade competed to spell out the word “Senior” in groups of four. For their final game, the seniors stacked the letters the fastest and earned the victory for their class.

Throughout different segments of the rally, seniors who participated in school activities such as sports, electives and clubs added items that represented their final year in the extracurricular into a time capsule that would be opened in the next ten years. Senior tennis captain Suprita Yeole recalled, “when my friend and I put the tennis picture for our senior season, that moment felt pretty significant and made me realize high school is coming to a close.”

Nearing the end of the rally, the senior class was asked to remain in the gym while the rest of students were dismissed. In the gymnasium, the seniors watched a touching video featuring past events and moments from the school year.

Senior Dhruv Kulkarni described his last memorable experience as a Wildcat for the final school event before graduation. Although Kulkarni felt a “sadness about never getting the Wildcat energy again, [the rally] was a fantastic way to celebrate the accomplishments of the class of 2026 and the collective energy in the gym was absolutely amazing, making the reality of the end of high school feel very concrete.”

Seniors, don’t forget to savor all of the last moments of being a Wildcat and continue to keep working hard and making West Ranch proud!