Shadowed students throwing graduation caps into the air

 As the school year comes to a close, Amherst High School is busily preparing for Senior Week. This year, the week of May 23-28 will be filled with events to honor the AHS Class of 2022. 

Senior Week kicks off on Wednesday, May 25 with the Senior Class Trip. Students will be traveling to the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, where students will enjoy the waterpark, adventure area, arcade, and more. Students should return around 3:00 pm. 


That evening, the Tomorrow River Scholarship Foundation brings back its annual banquet, which had to take a few years off due to COVID. During the banquet – which will be held in the AHS Cafeteria and will begin at 5:00 pm – the TRSF will award scholarships to the seniors and past graduates of AHS who applied last February. 


Following the TRSF banquet will be the AHS Senior Awards, where Principal Mike Klieforth, Counselor Shelley Swanson, Activities Director Shawn Groshek and other teachers and staff members of AHS will announce even more scholarships from area businesses and hand out the AHS Department Awards, Academic Achievement Awards, Academic All-Conference awards, and more. The TRSF banquet is by invitation only, but all seniors and their families are welcome to attend the AHS Senior Awards, which will begin at 7:00 pm that night. The Senior Awards will also be held in the Cafeteria, and all guests can enter at door C9.


On Thursday, May 26, the Seniors will have their last day of classes. Before the end of the day, seniors will be required to hand in their Chromebooks, return all textbooks and library books, clean out their lockers, and pay all outstanding fees in the HS Office. 


Friday, May 27 will be a big day for our Seniors, who should plan to be at school from 8:00 am until approximately 11:00 am. First off is the Senior Breakfast at 8:00 am. All seniors and their parents are invited to attend the Senior Breakfast. We know the weekend will be crazy with graduation and parties, so we hope you find this breakfast a nice time to relax with your soon-to-be graduate and their friends. During the meal, attendees will hear from Klieforth and Swanson, view the Senior Slideshow, and receive their Senior Banners and find out the results of the Senior Survey.


Around 9:30 am, our seniors will don their caps and gowns and participate in the ever-popular Senior Walk. Students from our elementary and middle schools, and as many teachers and staff as possible, will line the bus loop while the seniors travel from the north end to the south of the bus loop. Parents, relatives, and community well-wishers are invited to watch the procession.


After the Senior Walk, the Class of 2022 will line up outside and run through the Graduation Ceremony on Heartland Farms Field. When practice is over, our seniors will get their last early release from Amherst High School.


Graduation Day will be Saturday, May 28, and the ceremony will be held on Heartland Farms Field at 11:00 am. If the weather does not cooperate, the ceremony will be moved inside to the HS Gym, but that decision will not be made until the morning of the ceremony. Whether we are inside or outside, there will be no restrictions on the number of spectators, and the gates or the gym doors will be opened for spectators at 10:00 am. The graduates will be facing the north end of the field, so spectators are welcome to sit on either the home or visitor side of the field. Please note that both sets of bleachers have wheelchair ramps for accessibility.

For more information about Senior Week or any of its events, please contact Klieforth at 715-824-5521 or via email at mklieforth@amherst.k12.wi.us.