For Victoria Stiegel and Emily Ward, Monday, June 10, their summer began even though the seniors’ graduation at West Potomac isn't until June 18. They arrived at Springfield Mall at noon after their last exam, shopped and laid out their plans for the week.
"We're having a sleep-over, renting lots of movies," Ward said.
For Stiegel, the rest of her life had already started.
"Today we took our last exam," she said.
Carlie Sekely, Diane Knowles, Jessica English and Rachel Edwards were weighed down with shopping bags by 4 p.m. They've already set their sights for their coming beach trip even though graduation from Hylton High School in Prince William isn't until the end of the week.
"We've been shopping since 10 this morning. Our summer started about a week ago," Sekely said.
Ngoc Nguyen is a sophomore at Annandale High School. She arrived at the mall at noon, had lunch, saw a movie and just walked around.
"We walked around and shopped," she said.
Nguyen walked around with Daniel Na, who took his last test that morning; is graduating Thursday, June 13; and is going into the Marine Corps later in the summer.
"I'm getting ready for boot camp," he said.
Johnnye Cleveland is the manager at Rave, a contemporary clothing store in the mall.
"I work in a teen-ager store, and we had a few [teens] kicked out from security. They said they couldn't be in the mall without a parent during school hours," she said.
Over at Wet Seal, Kanett Kangnavong didn't see much money, although there were a lot of teens.
"They were looking, they weren't buying," she said.
AT 9 A.M. on Tuesday, June 11, the Starbucks near Edison High School had several tables full of seniors. Janae Holloway was ready to drink a Frappacino after being in school for a little over one hour. She was done with exams.
"We still have to go to meetings, it's mandatory. We have a meeting tomorrow, and we have to wear our caps and gowns. I might try to work a little," she said.
Brenda Murphy was there as well.
"You just go early in the morning, and then we're free for the rest of the day," she said.
Seniors from Thomas Jefferson High School were graduating Saturday, June 15, but Ashley Wilson's parents wanted to know what she was doing up to then and past.
"I had to write out what my next two weeks of what I was going to do," she said.
She was at the Old Keene Mill Plaza at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, June 11, with classmate Janet Yoo.
"We had to get our nails done," Yoo said, but her parents were involved too. "I had to check in," she said.
Fingernails were on West Springfield senior Sarah Blair's agenda as well. Her last exam was Friday, June 7.
"It's my big concern," she said.
THIS YEAR the graduation days were set, but the school system eliminated two days since snow days weren't used.
Idle teen-agers can get into trouble sometimes, but it hasn't happened. The police aren't worried about it. According to Fairfax County Police public information officer Julie Grinnan, one does not necessarily lead to the other.
"There's always vandalism, whether they're in school or not," she said.
Fairfax Station mother Carol Kramer has a similar attitude.
"If you're going to get in trouble, you're going to get in trouble all year long," she said.
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) public information specialist Paul Regnier knows about the days of no exams but noted that some activities are still going on in school, even after exams.
"We are continuing education. I would hope the kids would keep learning," he said.
He got one call from a concerned parent about the students’ free time before graduation but feels it's not a school duty.
"Our schools are not daycare centers. If you had a snow day, it would have been the same," he said.
FCPS public information specialist Mary Shaw doesn't think this year is any different. Teachers have always needed time to grade tests.
"They need a few days to do that anyway. I can't see that it's that different from other years," she said.
As far as the partying that sometimes accompanies the final days of school is concerned, Grinnan wasn't alarmed.
"We always look for that," she said.
Stiegel and Ward were aware that the partying does occur with some, but not them.
"I can see other people, but we're boring, good kids. I don't see the fun in getting drunk or high," she said.
West Springfield senior Laura Plimpton knows that anyone caught doing anything could jeopardize her diploma.
"You can't afford to get into trouble. They can still take that [diploma] away," she said.
GRADUATION REHEARSALS are the last official act for Stiegel.
"We have two graduation rehearsals," she said.
Jen Catlin spent the morning of Tuesday, June 11, at West Springfield graduation practice, even though she really didn't attend the school this year. She took her final two classes at Northern Virginia Community College while also taking college courses. She was planning on walking across the stage with the Class of 2002 at West Springfield. The topic of discussion at the graduation practice seemed to revolve around drinking alcohol at the ceremony.
"They're going to give us all a pat-down before we go in. They probably don't expect us to be good for the week, they just want us to behave during the ceremony," she said.