No matter what year you graduate, kids go through changes during their four-year career at Elder High School. At the same time, there are also kids that remain exactly the same from the moment they first enter Elder to the day they graduate. The class of 2016 has a plethora of guys in both these categories, so let’s break them down.

Jake Rinear: Let’s start with our very own student body president. Jake entered Elder a guy that wore lime green shirts that showed a little too much definition when it came to his chest, and will end up leaving an Elder legend.

As an underclassman, Jake had presidential hopes for his Elder career, but was viewed as a radical politician by his peers. Instead of letting the haters spoil his plans for eternal Elder glory, Rinear ate it for

breakfast, and used the hate to fuel an incredible campaign to completely annihilate Austin James (we’ll get to him later). Rinear’s story is one that personifies the Elder motto “Altiora”, and is the reason he will go down in the Elder Hall of Fame.

Austin James: Previously mentioned, Austin “Tito” James came into Elder as one of the most discussed students due to his southern accent. Tito’s southern drawl mesmerized students because most hadn’t heard someone speak like this who was born north of the Ohio River. Tito thrived on the attention everyone paid to his accent, and this became the foundation of what he thought would be

a four year reign as class president.

Austin believed that his southern lifestyle and the creation of the “Tito shuffle” would win him the election, but his counterpart Jake Rinear murdered his hopes and dreams. After getting obliterated this election, Tito went through a hard mid-life crisis, one in which he thought growing his hair out and looking like Elder’s only female student was a good idea. Tito went from the bee’s knees of Elder High School to becoming the first female student in over 90 years, and if that isn’t striving for the weirder things, I don’t know what is.

 Chris Fox: Christopher came into Elder an athletic stud and hoped to translate his moves from the gridiron at Victory to the Pit.

As a Viper, Fox was known for scoring TD’s both on and off the field, and everyone believed nothing would change as a Panther, well we thought wrong. Freshman year was a good one for Fox, he dominated both football and track, and was considered a great student in the classroom. Once Fox entered Elder as a sophomore, however, things would go down-hill in a catastrophic way. In a horrific car accident, Fox blew out the ol’ leg, and would never suit up in an Elder jersey again (unless it was on the sidelines in the cheering section). From that day forward, instead of running for touchdowns in The Pit, Fox only ran for touchdowns in video games, and ate a serious amount of Cheetos. During this period, Fox also seemed to lose his chin in the process, tough break guy. So Fox may not have lived up to

expectations by peers, but if you ask Fox today, he doesn’t regret anything that happened during his Elder career. After all, Christopher is definitely the type of guy to tell his future kids that he set records and was All-Ohio, just standard operating for him.

Nick Burgasser: Nick, more commonly known around Elder as “Big Burg”, hasn’t changed in any sense since arriving four years ago. Coming into Elder, Nick was known by his fellow St. Dominic Blackhawks as one of the funniest kids they’ve ever met, and that definitely hasn’t changed since he became a Panther. Blackhawk Joey Chowd elaborated, saying that Burg “was always and will always be the funny, chubby kid that every school has, and we’re blessed to have him here at Elder.” As Chowd said, Burg also hasn’t changed (much) when it comes to physical appearance, and he couldn’t care any less. One of the reasons people love Burg so much is because he openly doesn’t even try to lose weight or live a remotely healthy lifestyle. Eating a salad for lunch instead of three or four chicken sandwiches? Forget about it. Burg will eat whatever he wants whenever he wants, and no one can do a thing about it. Never change Burg, never change.