Last day of school
School's out for summer, School's out forever
School's been blown to pieces

Pure elation. Exhilaration and relief.  After nine months of pent-up frustration, rigid order and pseudo-structured time-management as dictated by those who couldn’t actually “do,” the bell rings and you are FREE.

What will you do with an entire summer ahead of you?  Run, jump, hike, fish, play ball, go on vacation, stay up late watching monster movies with your friends,  attend sleepovers, campouts, beach trips…the list is as endless as summer seems on the last day of school.

In 1972, Alice Cooper wrote the song that would become his anthem to pre-teen angst: School’s Out.  It became his biggest hit to date.  Its raucous delivery jarred the senses and became a rallying cry for kids everywhere.

No more pencils, No more books
No more teacher's dirty looks

Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused took place on the last day of school in June, 1976.  Rock and Roll High School also took place on the last day of school, presumably, because even if it wasn’t, they blew up the school.  And the list goes on…Degrassi High, Saved by the Bell, The Facts of Life, Boy Meets World, and other teen-friendly TV shows have used the last day of school as a springboard for summer storylines.

Let’s face it; it is a rite of passage if you are ascending from elementary to middle school, and an even greater leap from middle to (gulp) high school.  And the dizzying precipice that is the last day of the last year of high school signifies the first time “adult" responsibility appears on your radar as a tiny speck on the horizon, but it’s still a long way off.  The important thing is that you’re out.

And there are many, many things to do on the last day of school.  There are yearbooks to sign, pranks to be played, teachers to harangue and harass (all in good fun, natch) and there are plans to be made.  New alliances may be forged over the summer.  Old rules may no longer apply.  A romance that never could have happened during the semester is now suddenly plausible, away from the prying eyes of your immediate peer group.

And under it all, the anticipation, the joy, the hope, there is also dread.  Knowing but not acknowledging – not yet, anyway, that a new countdown clock has begun – the tick tock counting down of the days of summer, until finally we arrive once again, tired, humbled and bleary-eyed at our mirror day – the first day of school.  But that is a whole other story…

School's out with fever
School's out completely