For 125 years, Placer is known for its unique history and traditions that bind the school together. As new classes come and go, which traditions will stay and which will fade away?

The Leadership elective at Placer is in charge of putting on school events and creating school spirit. As of next year, Kari Uno will take over as the new Leadership teacher. Kari is an incredibly dedicated teacher to Placer’s school spirit as she herself attended Placer and has worked hard in creating the Vault Program. The Vault program is a hands-on elective that works with bringing students together similarly to Leadership. With a new teacher leading, there is great potential for traditions at Placer to improve and change.

When asked if there are any changes she might make in the future, Kari shared, “We’re going to do powder puff in the spring again. The tradition is that it is during homecoming week in the fall but I think that people liked it in the spring this year.”

Powder Puff is one of the most exciting traditions at Placer that students look forward to participating in their senior year. Due to Covid and other circumstances, Powder Puff was held in the Spring this year. However, this change is now confirmed to be permanent because of all of the positive feedback from not only students but the community.

Kari additionally shared, “We are also going to change the class colors so that you keep your class colors every year. So you get it freshman year and you keep it sophomore year, junior year, senior year So we’re going to change that a little bit.”

While there are some changes that students can expect to see in the future, Kari explained that she plans to continue the majority of traditions the same.

Kari shared that she “wants to continue homecoming, powder puff, green and gold Fridays, kindness week, and mental health awareness week. I also think we’ll bring back some extended lunches, and bring back decorating of hallways and lawns.” 

Adding new traditions is also a great way for students to leave their own mark on the school for future classes to enjoy.

Kari explained “We’re going to add a car show to homecoming that will include food trucks and it’ll be an evening thing. We’re going to get our gym back so we will have rallies in the gym starting hopefully next December or January. Hopefully, bring back the homecoming parade. Probably not next year but in the future.”

Many students look forward to high school as an opportunity to become involved and participate in as many fun activities and traditions as possible. However, traditions have the ability to do so much more than just bring joy to students.

“I think they’re so important because it brings everyone together and gives everybody a purpose. It also ties us with all of our alumni, which we have so many on campus, but also the alumni in the community that still live here,” Kari said. 

As the years go by, Placer’s traditions are constantly evolving into new and different activities. It is important to know that without tradition Placer would not be what it is today.