ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — As the school year comes to a conclusion, the final parent teacher conferences are held, prom occurs, the band and choir perform, awards are given  and seniors are realizing their achievements.

Seniors will be sporting the red and gray as they accept their diplomas at the commencement ceremony 7 p.m. June 2. Commencement will be held at Gerald Corlew Stadium, if weather permits; if not, the ceremony will be held in the Edgewood Senior High gymnasium and there will be limited seating. This year’s senior class speakers are Emily Stolfer, Eric Meier and Sam Wyand.

Senior Awards Ceremony will be 7 p.m. June 1. This gathering is to recognize seniors for academic achievements. Any external scholarships seniors received will also be acknowledged at this time. In addition, on May 28 at 1 p.m. the underclassmen will be given recognition for the grades they strived for over the 2009-2010 school year.

There will be moments of lightheartedness as the Senior Superlatives are announced at the Senior Brunch during commencement practice June 1. Students are selected by their peers for categories such as, “Most Likely to Write a ‘Dear Abby’ Column,” “Most Likely to Host a Talk Show” and “Most Likely to Teach at ESHS,” in addition to classic categories like “Best Dressed” and “Most Likely to Succeed.”

The final parent-teacher conferences for the school year will be today in the teachers’ rooms. During these conferences parents and teachers are to discuss students and how they have progressed over the year. Conference times are available from 3:30 to 7:15 p.m.

The big event that is on students’ minds is prom. The theme this year is “Ocean Oasis” and will be held May 15 at the Jefferson Expo Center. Juniors and seniors are to arrive at 6 p.m. for pictures. Students will be served dinner at 7 p.m. and dancing is from 8 to 11:30 p.m. Most seniors are looking forward to their last dance before they graduate.

“For the seniors, this is our last prom so we should make the best of it and have a great time,” said senior Tiffany Ryder.

For one last 2009-2010 performance, the Edgewood Warrior Band is having a spring concert. On May 18 Edgewood Concert and Symphonic Bands will play in the auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Concert Band will be playing “Fanfare for the Common Man” by Aaron Copland, “Summer Resounding!” by Brian Balmages and “The Glacier Express” by Larry Neeck. The Symphonic Band will be playing “Nobles of the Mystic Shrine” by John Philip Sousa along with a special performance of “The Ascension” and “The Inferno” by Robert W. Smith. These songs are inspired by the book “The Divine Comedy” in which Dante gets lost in the woods and the spirit of the Roman poet Virgil confronts him. Virgil leads Dante through hell, purgatory and heaven where he is reunited with his love Beatrice.

“The songs are a lot of fun and are challenging. They are a good representation of Dante’s masterpiece,” said Richie Bargielski, a band senior who has also read “The Divine Comedy.”

Choral Ball is the annual dance honoring members of the Edgewood Concert Choir and the Women’s Choir. Only choir members and their guests are admitted. The ball took place on May 1 at the Kathryn Rose Community Center. Dinner was served, followed by an awards ceremony and dancing.

Following Choral Ball is the spring choral concert on Tuesday. The Concert Choir, Women’s Choir and the Soundsations will be performing. After the three choirs perform, the senior choir members will sing a final song, “Lean on Me,” and then be honored for their years in choir with a flower. Their post-graduation plans will also be announced.

At the Choral Concert, the Soundsations will perform many of the musical numbers they did at “Springtime Sounds Around Cabaret.” This year’s cabaret is also the 25th anniversary celebration of Soundsations. Rehearsed musical numbers and Saturday Night Live style comedy skits are performed by the Sounds members. Soundsations alumni have been invited to perform. To conclude the performance, graduating Sounds members present the incoming Sounds members with their angel pin, which is worn on every Soundsations member’s uniform.

Along with the end of the school year, athletics will come to a conclusion as well. On May 26 at 7 p.m. the spring sports awards will be held. Students who participated in baseball, softball, boys’ tennis and boys’ and girls’ track will be recognized for their hard work. These sports awards happen every season for all athletics, so every sport is awarded.

Additional student awards are given for academics. Every grading period, the Academic Boosters reward the students who have a 3.0-4.0 grade point average or have improved their grade point average by .5 percent. For the third grading period, the selected students were released from class for ice cream at the end of the day.

Summer approaches and with it The Relay for Life. On June 18-19, the Relay for Life will be held at the Jefferson Fairgrounds to raise money for The American Cancer Society. The Edgewood Cancer Warriors was founded in 2007 and still works to raise money for cancer research. For additional fund-raising, students do projects like “penny wars” May 3-7. Penny wars is a project when each classroom in Edgewood collects pennies and battles to have the most pennies in order to win a pizza party. It is called a war because classes can sabotage each other’s penny collection. For example, if a student from one class puts one dollar in another class’s penny bin, it cancels out 100 of their pennies, in turn leaving that class with fewer pennies. Another fund-raiser for the students is Hat Day. On May 12 students are allowed to wear hats to school if they donate to The American Cancer Society.

“The Relay for Life is an incredible event that brings the community together and I enjoy making Edgewood a part of that community,” said Jill Shaw, adviser of the Edgewood Cancer Warriors.