At the end of the year, many seniors have a lot on their minds, from grad parties to AP exams. But who is thinking about the files on their school Chromebooks? The essays from their sophomore year? The science project they worked on for an entire quarter as a freshman?
Even though these things may have little significance to seniors amidst the busyness of graduation, there are values to saving files from high school.
All of the seniors’ files, along with their school Google accounts, will be permanently deleted on Friday, June 12. For seniors who wish to save their files, they have multiple options to do so.
“You can transfer your files from your district Google account to a personal Google account or download an archive to a personal computer or a USB Drive. If you would like to save any files, you have until the end of the day, Thursday, June 11, 2026,” stated an email sent by the WSSD Technology Department to seniors.
These files can be helpful for students later on in the professional world.
“Some of the files saved may be used for applications, resumes, and professional portfolios for use after graduation,” Director of Information Technology Mr. AJ Cetroni stated in an email.
In art classes such as Graphic Design, students make a portfolio at the end of the year. Art teacher Ms. Regina Iannello encourages students to save their files throughout the year for the portfolio, and to save their portfolio for the future.
“I recommend that they personally email [the files] to themselves, like their personal email, not their WSSD, so that way they can go back and at least look at them or share them on social media if they want,” Iannello said.
Science teacher Ms. Amanda King agrees that saving files can be good for looking back on. King also suggests that old work can be a baseline and starting point for identifying your interests.
“If you’re really interested in something, and it’s kind of where your mind is headed career wise, definitely hold on to it,” King said. “Because even if you end up [going on] a different career path, even going back to that and realizing how much you love it could just change where you are in the future.”
Many graduates have realized in college that their old work would be beneficial to see.
“I have heard students returning graduates say, ‘Oh, I wish I could go back and get some of my old work, because maybe it would help me with things that I’m doing in college,’” social studies teacher Mr. TJ Adams said.
English teacher Mr. Kevin Haney has also noticed this, and encourages students to save their files and work for the future.
“I always remind our seniors weeks before the end of the school year to make sure that they’re saving their documents, that they’re moving it over to a place that they can keep it safe, even if they don’t think they’ll use it. Just in case, just hang on to it,” Haney said.
Social studies teacher Mr. David Waldman believes that students can find value in looking back at old work, as it can show the value of how far a student has come and what they have learned.
“It probably would be interesting for some students to look back when they are older, maybe in their third year in college, or they’re in grad school…They can look back at their writing in high school and say, ‘Man, I really learned some valuable things [at Haven] about how to construct an argument,’” Waldman said.
Previous work can also hold sentimental value for students. While senior Julia Smirnova plans on saving some of her best essays and work, she also plans on saving fun things from when she was younger.
“I also have a lot of things from elementary school that are just cute to look back on, and I definitely want to save those too, because I would just play around on Google Slides and make presentations in fifth grade,” Smirnova said. “It’s really fun.”
Even with the sentimental value the work holds for Smirnova, it will also serve as a source of knowledge — in general and for her future education.
“For me, it’s mostly a memory,” she said. “I can look back on things that I did and remember them, but it’s also a resource for my future writing, because there’s a lot of specific things that teachers wanted from high school, and I can use them in college.”
