For the past few years, senior class officers have organized what’s known as the “Future Plans” Instagram account to keep track of where Sharon students are heading after graduation. However, things have turned out a little differently for the Class of 2026: Students are submitting their plans to an unofficial account instead, leaving Planning Board out of the loop.
The unofficial Future Plans account (@sharonhigh26futureplans or SharonHigh26) is run by an anonymous senior who communicated with the Talon through direct messages on Instagram. SharonHigh26 began building up their follower count—which is now over a thousand—early in the year, before the official account had even been set up. “I like doing graphics, and I have the freedom to make an Insta account and post what I want on it,” the anonymous owner said. “I’m just trying to be involved in the grade and do something fun.”
Despite posts by Planning Board members encouraging students to follow the official account instead, several continued to submit decisions to SharonHigh26, which has about thirty posts as of January. The posts display a student’s chosen university, career, or military branch and their intended major, along with a portrait of the student and an additional picture from early childhood; each of them has hundreds of likes and dozens of comments bestowing congratulations and praise.
The original purpose of the Instagram, though, was to notify class officers—not just friends and family—of students’ plans so that the information could be added to graduation handouts. Former class advisor Ms. Lisa Jolicoeur explained, “We started it just to gather the information, because the newspaper wasn’t doing it anymore.” During Covid, the Talon’s tradition of publishing future plans in its senior issue was disrupted, leaving Planning Board to step in.
“It’s a lot of work,” Ms. Jolicoeur pointed out, describing the process of creating graduation programs featuring future plans, Senior Week photos, and more. “Everybody’s changing their mind… it’s such a tight window between when those decisions are made and when it has to go to the printer, and then distributing it.” Ms. Jolicoeur voiced concerns that unless SharonHigh26 and the Planning Board can find a way to work together, “the Class of 2026 will not have something nice” at their graduation.
Unfortunately, communication between the account owners hasn’t been constructive so far. SharonHigh26 offered to “collab” with Planning Board after being requested to deactivate their account, but a representative responded that “we’ve got this one covered,” adding that there were already officers assigned to create posts. Recently, however, the official account appears to have been deleted.
“When you’re hiding behind a screen… it does seem to make it a little confrontational,” Ms. Jolicoeur observed. “If it were me, I would absolutely welcome somebody helping.” SharonHigh26 said that they’re worried revealing their identity might get them in trouble, stating, “If I wasn’t getting flamed, I wouldn’t care if people knew it was me.”
Ultimately, Ms. Jolicoeur predicted, “the class officers [will] try and put together senior week photos, and if the decisions are in it, they’re in it. If they’re not, they’re not.” Meanwhile, as graduation approaches, SharonHigh26 will have to handle an increased workload, with college decisions peaking around May 1 enrollment deadlines. “This is funny,” the account owner said, reflecting on the past few months of Future Plans competition and controversy. “I never thought I was getting myself into this.”
