By Eliza Allen
As the 2025-26 school year comes to a close, seniors are finalizing their post-secondary plans. Decision Day, held on May 1 celebrates the aspirations of the soon-to-be graduates.
Seniors are invited to celebrate during spartan Time in the Partner’s Bank Gymnasium. The event will include announcements of graduation speaker, song, and some fun treats. Seniors can also purchase their yearbook at this event.
The class of 2026 has some big plans for their futures, with a variety of paths that will be celebrated at Sanford High School’s annual Decision Day event. We caught up with a few to discuss their plans.
With over 2,000 majors to choose from, high school seniors have a big decision ahead of them when it comes to what they want to attend college for. SHS seniors have a wide variety of majors that they are planning to pursue. Gabriella Favolise plans on pursuing a degree in Elementary Education while playing Volleyball at Thomas College. Here’s what she has to say about this opportunity! “I can not wait to pursue this major and continue to prepare for my future classroom someday! For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a teacher when “I grew up”, so getting to do this is super exciting for me.”
SHS Seniors also have big plans for helping in their communities! Matthew Hebert will be attending New England College to major in special education and play baseball, he looks forward to working in a classroom as soon as possible to make an impact in the lives of students. Ava Hudson will be attending the same school to major in Business and play soccer.
Seniors from SHS have plans all over the country, with many planning on attending colleges out of state! Hunter Walker will be attending the University of Maryland, majoring in journalism. Here’s what he has to say about his decision. “I decided I wanted to go to the University of Maryland after taking a trip to Maryland in April 2025, the school is really nice, has a top journalism program in the country, and provides many internship opportunities as it is located just outside of Washington D.C. where almost all major news outlets can be found!” Additionally, Gillian Utgard will be attending Georgia Southern University for Nuclear Medicine and says she hopes to work in a trauma center after graduation!
Did you know that only about 7% of high school athletes go on to play a sport in college? College athletics are a big commitment, and one that many SHS seniors are willing to make! While pursuing a degree in Architecture, Sophie Olivo will be playing on the Lacrosse team for Norwich University. Two Sanford Soccer athletes will be joining the women’s soccer team at St. Joseph’s College, Isabella McCall and Annalise Stimmell. Both have been playing soccer in Sanford since youth, and are excited for the close-knit community that the soccer team provides. Here’s what Bella has to say about the opportunity. “I love the atmosphere at St. Joe’s because it is a pretty small school but there is still a lot of campus life. For example, I got to pay Bingo with part of the soccer team when I did an overnight visit.”
Another popular route is entering technical school for trades based programs like Drew McGrath, and Ryan Alexander at SMCC. Similarly, many students are setting their sights on cosmetology at Empire Beauty School, such as Kenzie Taylor, Natalie Payeur, Bella Tounge, and Autumn Liston.
Regardless, all seniors are invited to celebrate this Friday during Spartan Time, whatever decision it may be.
Follow @shsseniorshoutouts on instagram to see more future plans of SHS seniors.
