Past classes have donated a Chesty statue, a mural and several trees. But this senior class wants to contribute something unique.

Throughout April, seniors will be raising money to fund their class gift of Walt Witman’s signature.

English teacher Michael Carriger came across the signature online. What makes it special to Lawrence High is that the signature includes the date and location where it was signed: Lawrence, Kansas, on Sept. 16, 1879.

The senior class’ character was the inspiration for the gift they’re giving, senior Joo-Young Lee said.

“We are the first freshman class to be here, so we wanted to leave some kind of legacy of being here for four years,” she said. “The English department especially expressed that our senior class seems to be very successful and eloquent in the fine arts and in English, especially.”

A permanent location has not yet been decided for the gift, but NHS and StuCo have thrown a few ideas around.

“We haven’t put down a plan for where we’re going to put it,” Lee said. “We’re hoping, just a discussion that we had, to incorporate a lot of different parts of our senior class in this gift. So maybe getting a bookshelf or something that could go with it made by woodshop. Or, like a bench made by the art department, so we could incorporate all different types of people in our senior class for our senior class gift.”

Seniors are currently collecting money to fund the gift. Talk to Michael Carriger in room 201 about how you can help.