If you’ve been on the AHS campus lately, odds are you heard some buzz about the Class of 2026’s senior quotes. But what actually happened? Where do senior quotes lie now? What might this mean for rising seniors and students to come?
This conversation can get intense and polarizing. Please note that the intention of this piece is purely to educate and explain, not to criticize any staff or students involved. For that reason, sources used will remain anonymous.
On December 22nd, over the Winter Break, senior students received a StudentSquare email from Yearbook Teacher Mr Watts. In the message, students read “For the Yearbook, we are not doing Senior Quotes this year. INSTEAD we are asking you to tell us what you hope to remember from your time at AHS. When you look back at your Yearbooks in 10, 20, 50 years, what is the one memory that will stick out more than any other?”
Immediately after grew strong backlash. Some students replied to the given form to express their frustration, writing messages depicting that, when they look back, they’ll be disheartened by the lack of senior quotes. Others expressed their anger on their social media accounts. Some students even wrote disapproving comments on the Yearbook’s Instagram Post, and the comment section was resultantly turned off.
Promptly, a petition was released by student Veronica Fierro, to “respectfully ask the school administration to reconsider this decision and explore reasonable alternatives, such as content guidelines or administrative review, instead of eliminating senior quotes altogether.” The petition received around 150 signatures. Once the break ended, Senior Class Officer Story Austin created a similar petition.
As a result of meeting with ASB leadership, on January 8th, Mr. Watts announced in a StudentSquare message, that “Your voices have been heard! Based on feedback from the senior class, we are excited to share that Senior Quotes will be included in the yearbook if at least 150 appropriate quotes are submitted.”
The guidelines outlined that quotes must have a “100-120 character limit”, “no profanity, lewd or obscene references”, “no inside jokes or references”, “no @s, hashtags, or links to any social media or digital source (no timestamps to TV or movies)”, “no negative references to fellow students or staff members”, and must be completed by “4:00 PM on Wednesday, January 14.” Even further, “All answers are subject to approval from a committee consisting of Mr. Watts, Mr. Buchanan, ASB, and AHS Administration”.
Although initially slow, the required 150-quote target was surpassed by deadline, and, as of now, it appears that the Class of ‘26 will have senior quotes in the 2025-2026 yearbook.
This does not come as an isolated incident. In previous years, the inclusion of senior quotes has been questioned in the face of a growing lack of participation. Recent yearbooks have had fewer and fewer quotes than in years past, which can affect the aesthetics of the yearbook and undermine whether students like them in the first place.
In addition, stories from around the country of controversial senior quotes and potential lawsuits have made them more trouble than they’re worth in certain school districts. In Madera County, CA, a school district was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union when a student’s quote was banned for mentioning LGBTQ+ topics. A school in North Carolina recalled their yearbooks and underwent severe pressure online when a student made their quote “Build the Wall”, a reference to controversial immigration policy. Other schools have had similar stories, with other polarizing quotes.
For the time being, though, it looks like Agoura High School senior quotes are regulated by the administration, supported by the students, and here to stay.
