From the Alumni Assembly to Homecoming and the Lip Dub, PHS has many traditions that connect the students and community together. The one distinguishing feature is how these traditions have changed and adapted over the years to fit the current student body.  

To alumnus Alec Elliott, who graduated in 2008, most of the school’s traditions have stayed the same. When Elliott attended here, there was still the Alumni Assembly, Fair Day and Senior Sunrise. The main difference, says Elliott, was the energy that made these traditions special.  

“I would say that as a collective group of students, we were much more like cheering on everybody for their success,” Elliott said. “I think the energy and support of everybody in the school was something I probably liked better.” 

According to alumnus Brian Grout, who graduated in 2003, the school traditions that he remembers during those years are the ones with his football team and friends.  

One thing his football team would do was go together to get Red Robin to celebrate after the games.  

“There was just a really cool full body student experience, because a lot of the kids and players would go out and it was just a really good time to go up there and be with your people and then see them next week,” Grout said.
As a teacher now, Grout enjoys being part of the people providing help with the assemblies and being an adult seeing the kids enjoy their experiences. 

“Being a part of the experience from the adult like watching the kids or hearing about their experience, whether it’s like lip dub now, or a newer tradition that’s pretty fun,” Grout said. “It’s cool to see some of the new and older traditions get melded together this year.” 

Alumna Peggy Haskey, who graduated in 1981, says she can see changes from when she went here as a student. When Haskey came here as a student a difference was that Homecoming was around Christmas time and was attached to the Alumni Assembly. 

“The Alumni Assembly wasn’t about Winter Wishes, lots of alumni would come back, so that was a little bit different,” Haskey said. 

Another difference was that some of the boys in the junior class used to go out and cut down Christmas trees to sell. 

They cut down trees and then they brought them back and we would have a Christmas sale, out on the old tennis courts, which were on Pioneer, and we would raise money for the senior ball the following year,” Haskey said. “So, you’d volunteer to work, and people would spend the night out there on the tennis court, so that was fun.” 

Lastly at the end of the school year, the seniors would have a senior breakfast. In the morning, the day of graduation practice, the students and teachers came in early.  

“On that day, in the morning, before graduation practice, they would have a senior breakfast, and all the teachers would come, and they would make a big breakfast for the kids,” Haskey said. 

But over the years these traditions have changed or gone away. Haskey says that school traditions are important because they give students something to connect with the whole student body.  

“It helps you learn about the school traditions and helps you learn about the school and the culture in it, I think it’s nice when everyone is working and focusing and going in one direction together because we all have so many different things pulling us different ways around here,” Haskey said. 

Haskey enjoys the traditions because it shows the history of the school while connecting the past students to current students. 

 “It’s cool to understand that there is a history and that it is bigger than just us. Other people have been here and done these things and I think it’s interesting and kind of cool to have some ownership,” Haskey said.