Lawrence High school seniors Ida Greenwell, left, and Alex Welcher develop film in their photography class Tuesday. Graduation for LHS and Free State seniors is May 23, and for most of them that’s not soon enough.

For Lawrence High School senior Ida Greenwell, the last few days of her high school career are a challenge.

“I don’t want to go to school,” she said. “You don’t want to do your homework. You don’t want to do anything. You just want to sleep in. You lose all of your motivation.”

Yes, in Lawrence “senioritis” has set in.

Greenwell, who plans to attend Kansas University in the fall to study in the medical field, and fellow seniors are doing their best to get through final high school projects and tests before they graduate May 23.

“Senioritis is definitely present,” said Free State senior Tyler Campbell, who plans to attend Johnson County Community College with hopes of getting into chiropractic school. “It’s definitely there. You can tell people have been waiting to get out.”

They’ve been admitted to colleges and received scholarships, and seniors are starting to look ahead. But academic advisers warn they haven’t crossed the finish line yet.

Robert Shandy, an LHS guidance counselor, considers senioritis a rite of passage. But he has seen the worst-case scenario occur, including a college revoking a scholarship from a student after the final transcript was sent.

“They get that offer and feel like that’s the end of the road, but they need to finish it,” Shandy said. “It’s that final sprint at the end of the race. You don’t just jog to the finish line.”

The College Board organization recommends students make the most of their senior year by staying active and maintaining a challenging course load to keep focused.

Alan Gleue, chairman of the LHS science department, says teachers do notice seniors have trouble focusing, but he said most of them are able to push through it.

“I don’t think we’re angry about it,” Gleue said. “It’s just something that occurs.”

LHS senior Dakota Summers, who also plans to attend JCCC and wants to teach fine arts some day, said the days at the end of the year seem to be dragging on. He has a 10-page paper due next week, and it’s been easy to find distractions.

“It finally starts to wind down. It’s really almost the end, and you’re kind of excited, and kind of not,” he said. “I think that’s where it comes from. You just get anxious to move on.”