A walk down memory lane for the Class of 2024
By Olivia Morrison ‘24
Graphic by Eva Vu-Stern Instagram: @bluest.skys
Follow this link to see a compilation of photos of the Class of 2024 through the years:
As students buckle down and prepare for their last month of classes before immersives, the senior Class of 2024 is preparing for our senior projects and final days on the Catlin Gabel School (CGS) campus.
Some members of the class have been at CGS since the Beehive (the preschool), and others have just joined this year, but all are integral parts of the senior class. It is natural at this time for people to feel sentimental and nostalgic. So to celebrate the Class of 2024’s last days on campus, here is a walk down memory lane of the events that have brought us together throughout our time at CGS.
The Beehive
Isabelle Ostrowski and Adam Maynard in the Honeybee Circus, Courtesy of Donnie Reuther ‘24.
The number of students who have been at CGS since preschool (“lifers”) has dwindled throughout the years, but there are still students who remember their time in the CGS Beehive fondly. One of the lifers, senior Donnie Reuther, remembers the Honeybee Circus.
“I was one of the three musketeers along with Adam and Lewis and that was just us balancing peacock feathers on our fingers, which we thought was really difficult at the time,” said Reuther. He was also featured as a jack-in-the-box in the performance. “It was very cute,” he said.
Kindergarten
Senior Milo Stout remembers his “Eagle Day” in Kindergarten. All the students did presentations about different eagles and parents came to support. “The class was divided into two halves, the golden eagles and the bald eagles…kind of a friendly rivalry,” he described.
“Also recess was always awesome,” Stout added.
1st grade
In first grade, senior John Dilorenzo remembers playing on the playground and getting into various mischief. “We always used to play on the playground in the ship and do hide and seek and we would also go to the little room in the play structure and people would kiss in there,” he said.
Dilorenzo also remembers regularly having play fights with his classmates Lewis, Oliver, and Søren, in which Søren would usually emerge victorious. Dilorenzo added another memorable first-grade altercation: “I threw a stick at Rufus Gleeson and it stuck in him in his stomach during Tuition on the Track (now called CG Fun(d) Run),” he said.
2nd grade
When Senior Violet Bouwes-van Nood thinks of second grade, she thinks of playing the recess game “Scramble.” The game was very popular and played on four square courts.
“Me and Amare would go there every single day during lunch and would stake our spot and eat lunch there and then play every single recess,” said Bouwes-van Nood.
3rd grade
In third grade, the class visited B’nai B’rith (BB) Camp for their grade-level trip. Reuther remembers this trip as the one that got the Class of 2024 obsessed with Gaga Ball. According to Reuther, the game became rather competitive, and “everyone got really into it for this whole trip to the point where we brought it back to campus.” This is evidenced by the three Gaga Ball pits now on campus.
4th grade
Violet Bouwes-van Nood, Campbell Swaim, Claire Druker, Olivia Levy, and Ava Austria on the 4th grade Seattle trip, Courtesy of Ava Austria.
In fourth grade, the Class of 2024 took a trip to Seattle. Senior Claire Druker remembers having fun playing in a big water fountain and having fun with her friends.
Senior Oscar Goranson also remembers that “the fourth grade stop motion unit was very fun.”
Dilorenzo remembers the fourth-grade reenactment of Ellis Island, in which he played a medical examiner. “I got to deny a lot of people from America for various random reasons, similar to how it historically was I guess,” he said.
5th grade
Senior Ava Austria remembers the 5th grade class trip to Camp Westwind fondly. “I remember it was fun because we were on the beach so we got to have long beach days and build castles and dig holes,” she said. Senior Bristol Hager also remembers that “the glow stick sardines game we played in the dunes was fun.”
6th grade
Sixth grade was the year when many new students came into our grade, and class bonding was even more important to bring our grade together. Senior Eliza Robinson, who came into CGS in 6th grade, remembered the 6th grade class trip to Cape Arago as a great bonding experience.
She mentioned a particularly memorable hike, “We went on this hike through this tunnel of bushes and then climbed down this cliff with a rope and Abby (I think) slipped and almost fell off the cliff…and then we ended up on this really cool isolated peninsular with tide pools.”
7th grade
Owen Chenoweth, Eliza Robinson, and Olivia Murray on a 7th grade trip to Hyla Woods, Courtesy of Catlin Gabel.
Seventh grade brought lots of fun for our class with our trips to Hyla Woods for science class and the class trip to Mount Saint Helens. Druker remembers, “It was a little disappointing that it was foggy the day we saw the mountain, but watching Dante's Peak was memorable but it was funny to watch as a class because it was not a good movie.” The class trip also brings back memories of our amazing talent show which featured synchronized swimming, and a class-wide water fight.
Reuther also remembers our class playing a game called Ultimate, which he describes as “beach volleyball-esque.” “Everyone in the class got really into it” and “we would just play ultimate whenever we had free time,” Reuther said.
8th grade
Druker’s overall favorite memory of the Class of 2024 was putting together and performing the (Not) Saint George and the Dragon (NSG) play in eighth grade, where she played Saint George. Druker said that even though most of our class was “severely sick” at the time, it was still fun. “I like that we get to go down as the last class that did it,” she stated.
She also remembered the classic “chase video,” (featured in the slideshow) which was a traditional part of the NSG production. “We went to the mall to record the chase video which was fun so we got to hang out as a class at the mall,” said Druker.
Eighth grade was the year that the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted for the Class of 2024. We transitioned to online learning in March and didn’t see one another for months. This makes the memory of Saint George and the Dragon even more special.
9th grade
Senior Tessa Hitchcock remembers a moment towards the end of ninth grade when the class got together in a sunny field to write letters to our future selves. “It was fun to come together as a class just sitting in small groups and hearing what people wanted to remember and what was important to them,” said Hitchcock.
Sophomore
Although the class consensus was that sophomore year was not very memorable, it was still remarkable in many ways. This was the year when we were finally allowed to take off our masks, allowing many to see classmates' and teachers' noses and mouths for the first time, which was very exciting indeed.
In sophomore year, the Class of 2024 was also finally permitted to eat inside once more. This was instead of enduring the odious paddock tent, in which much chair-stacking and hair-cutting occurred. Of course, this dining triumph was after the incident that was Applegate.
Additionally, sophomore year was the year when many members of our class got their driver’s licenses, opening up a whole new world of possibilities. Senior Amanda Phillips remembers the feeling of getting her license as a new “sense of responsibility and freedom.”
Junior
Junior year was when school came back in full swing, and class trips finally resumed after a COVID hiatus. The Class of 2024 took a trip to Canby Grove, where we played basketball, swam in the river, and engaged in class bonding activities. Hager remembers that “the glow stick scavenger hunt” that our whole grade participated in on the class trip “was a lot of fun.”
Many of the senior class were also able to participate in global trips in junior year. Two trips jutted off to explore Ecuador and the Galapagos and another went to adventure in Turkey. Austria added that she recommends that everyone should go on a global trip and that going to Ecuador was “probably the highlight of being at this school.”
Senior
Senior Sunrise, Courtesy of Oliver Chally.
During the Class of 2024’s last year on campus, members were hard at work doing what everyone is most nervous yet most excited about—college applications. But in that time, class bonding activities abounded from carving pumpkins with first-grade buddies to Senior Assassin.
Senior Scooch Herbst remembers Senior Sunrise fondly. “I remember we all got up really early…we all ran around trying to find the sunrise behind the trees.”
Soon, the senior class will gather together once more to participate in Senior Sunset, signifying the end of our time on campus together. So in the time that is left, appreciate the Class of 2024, and wish us all the best in the days preceding graduation and in our bright and exciting futures.