Decision Day becomes new tradition at John Adams High School

SOUTH BEND -- Today was the second annual Decision Day, a new tradition for John Adams High School.

The Class of 2026 shared where they're heading after graduation, whether it be the workforce, trade school, the military, or continuing their education. Those bound for college were able to mark on a map where they will be attending, as well as show off their new school's shirts.

According to Principal Jim Seitz, "It's important for all of our students to see just what can happen when you work hard and you put in the time and the energy in the classroom and outside of school, so that way after high school, you can move on to post-secondary avenues, whether it's college or a career or military, and making sure that our students are prepared when they leave here, so they can become successful members of society."

This is only the second year of the event and is something the teachers and principal are looking forward to doing for the foreseeable future. 

"This is actually our second year doing this. We have a wonderful counseling department, and one of our counselors, Mrs. Jessica Fuller, has organized this. This is the second year that we've done this, and this year was even better than last year, and so we are going to continue this every single year." added Seitz

And finally, Principal Seitz was also excited to be able to bring back a former student to inspire all of his current students. "Today we were able to have Mr. Jelani cotton come back and speak to the class of 2026 Jelani is a 2022 John Adams high school graduate, and he is the first Fulbright scholar in the history of Holy Cross College. He attended McKinley Elementary. He attended Edison Middle School and then graduated from John Adams High School, and so he is a shining example of what our students can become as they matriculate through our system here in South Bend schools."