On Aug. 20, the first day of this school year, seniors gathered at Ken Pickerill Stadium to watch the sunrise in a tradition where graduating seniors gather early in the morning before dawn, watching the sun come up together on their “last first day” of school, celebrating the milestones to come and showing off their creativity.
“Senior sunrise is on the first day of school around two hours before it starts,” OH senior Aubrey Reding said. “All of the seniors gather at the stadium to watch the sunrise, eat, take pictures, and have fun on their last first day. I heard about it mainly from previous years, but also from the Orange Crews’ post.”
For seniors, this isn’t just another sunrise, but a symbol of the dawning of their final school year.
Partnering the sunrise, they have a final Senior Sunset at the end of the year. Senior Sunset is designed to mirror Senior Sunrise, symbolizing seniors closing this chapter and transitioning into adulthood.
For Senior Sunrise, students make signs and dress up in senior clothes and backpacks so they can take pictures in the sun kissed scenery.
“I went with all of my friends and we made TikToks and took pictures together,” Reding said. “I really only brought a blanket but some of my friends make posters that we used to take pictures with.”
Many students brought signs they’d decorated themselves, themed after movies, senior year, or just fun colors.
Meekins said, “I took pictures with the poster I made with my friends. It was a picture frame cutout, and it said senior sunrise with my graduating year, and then it had a sun over it.”
OH staff was up bright and early along with the seniors offering many different breakfast foods throughout the event. According to Reding, the school provided breakfast for students, including donuts and waffles.
Seniors enjoyed this sunrise as a perfect start to their final year, memories made by shared smiles and signs of the future.
“I honestly really enjoyed it,” Reding added.”It was so wholesome having all of us seniors there and it was just a great morning to start the first day off!”
Hi, my name is Peyton. I'm a junior in highschool and it's my first year on staff. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication.
