During the 2025-2026 school year, Seniors have started the trend of making Senior crowns and purchasing backpacks as a way to celebrate their last year of high school. Many Seniors replace their regular backpacks with nostalgic little kid designs such as, My Little Pony, Paw Patrol, or Minions. Others have gone all out and opted for a more creative route, crocheting patterns on their bag or, “Patches with the number 26 and [their] name,” Noa Leon, explained. Another tradition that has been brought to light are Senior crowns. It’s a tradition in which Seniors decorated their crowns in full out glitter and honed their creative skills by using accessories like fur lining, flowers, or bows. These trends started as a homage to their childhood before entering adulthood. These traditions date back to 2008, but it has slowly gained popularity after the COVID-19 pandemic on various social media platforms. Videos can be found on social media of seniors packing their backpack or decorating their crown. What started as a small trend has grown to a larger scale audience, country wide.
Senior, Molly Connolly, explained her senior backpack saying, “I chose to do Elmo as my backpack because all my friends wanted to do something funny and bring us back to when we were kids.” Molly, like many other seniors, is wearing senior backpacks as a fun thing to do during her last year at LHP. Some have coordinated with their friends to pair backpacks, leaving them with memories to last a lifetime. “My senior backpack is a hard top Captain America shield that has blood stains and battle scars on it. My favorite backpack that I have seen is my own,” Sebastian Jaramillo, grade 12, explains. Sebastian has a heartfelt background behind his backpack saying, “I feel as if mine is unique compared to everyone else’s. I bought this bag when I was 11 years old, and I’ve had it my whole journey through life.” This light hearted tradition has left a lasting impact on LHP as a whole, exciting Juniors for the next school year. Senior backpacks are no longer just a bag to store school supplies, they’re memories that the students will look back on forever.
Senior crowns were a trend started on social media by teenagers and eventually became a well known tradition for hundreds of schools. They are traditionally worn on the first week or first day of school to celebrate the seniors. Most students get a Burger King crown and cover it with a considerable amount of glitter, add the word senior, and finalize it by adding personal touches. These crowns are meant to represent their personality and creativity so many seniors put pictures of things they feel represent themselves. Some of the most creative crowns are entirely covered in glitter and have fur lining and decorations spread across it. Judging by the popularity, senior crowns are most likely not a fad and will continue to be passed on as a tradition for decades of seniors.
Senior crowns and backpacks have positively influenced the Upper School community these past few weeks. Seniors are seen wearing backpack designs of colorful children cartoons, giving students and teachers fond memories of the past. Likewise, senior crowns are a way to celebrate a monumental accomplishment for their last year in high school. Senior backpacks and senior crowns will forever be a long lasting tradition that rising seniors, in the years to come will look forward to.
