Fun Questions to Ask at High School Reunions

Even when you're happy to see your old classmates again, high school reunions can get awkward. People want to get to know each other as adults but don't always know where to start. Asking questions is the perfect way to break the ice, and there are a lot of ways to incorporate them into the reunion. Organizers can use questions for class reunion invitations as well as during the event itself. Playing a high school reunion questions game will get people talking, helping you get to know people you haven't seen since gym class.

Reunion organizers sometimes include a list of "about you" questions when sending out invitations for the event. These are the kinds of questions that organizers might use to pull together interesting facts about the group to share during the party or print in reunion programs. For example, they might figure out which attendee now lives the farthest away from your old school, who has the most children or who has the most interesting-sounding job title.

If you're going to ask these questions for class reunions, keep the list fairly short so your old classmates are willing to answer them all. Ask some basic demographic questions about relationship status, kids, jobs, pets and where they live now. Organizers might also include some other questions that would yield interesting tidbits for the party. Ask about their favorite teacher or their favorite memory from high school or whom they're most excited to see at the reunion.

Are you planning a high school reunion questions game to play during the event itself? Come up with prompt questions that will help people start conversations. Create a list of five questions and challenge people to find a different person to answer each one.

Choose questions that help people get to know each other as adults. For example, you could ask: "What has been your favorite job that you've had since graduating high school?" "What are the best and worst things about the place where you now live?" "What were the last three concerts you attended?"

If your senior class voted on class superlatives, you can also reuse them as questions to ask at a reunion. Midway through the event, pass out ballots that ask people to vote in categories like "best smile," "best dressed," "class clown" and "most likely to (continue to) succeed," choosing their answers from their fellow reunion attendees. Add questions like: "Who changed the most since high school?" or "Who has the most fun spouse?"

The further we get away from high school, the blurrier our memories tend to become. Asking specific questions about your school days should help jog people's memories and get them sharing funny memories together. One option is to create a trivia-based high school reunion questions game. Have reunion guests fill out question sheets and turn them in by a designated time. Then, announce the answers and hand out prizes to the top scorers.

Pull out old yearbooks to come up with questions, making sure to ask about a wide range of activities and people. For example, you can ask: "What was the theme of our senior prom, and who were the prom king and queen?" "Who were the foreign language teachers during our sophomore year?" "What was the name of our school newspaper, and who was the editor during our senior year?" "What was the nickname for the band room hallway?"

Alternatively, ask questions that are intended to get conversations started, such as: "What was your favorite class in all of high school and why?" "What extracurricular activities did you most enjoy?" "What was the worst thing about being a member of our class, and what was the best?" "What teachers made an impact on your adult life?"

Not every part of your reunion has to be light and funny. There are some good serious questions to ask at a reunion. If you have classmates who have died, you might ask attendees to share their favorite memories of them. Read them out loud at the party and then share them with the families of your late classmates.

You might ask classmates to anonymously write down their biggest regrets from high school. Post them on a board near the entrance to the party so everyone can read them.

Reunions also present a chance for older and wiser adults to share wisdom with today's students. Think about some advice-based questions to ask at a reunion and then share the answers with your alma mater's current newspaper or post them yourself on social media for classmates to share with their young relatives. Some questions include: "What would you do differently if you had to go through high school again?" "What's your number-one piece of advice for current seniors as they approach adulthood?"