By Coco Cornish, Copy Editor
// As the sun rises over senior year, so does a new found tradition at Acalanes High School. Coming together on Friday, Aug. 24, 75 seniors gathered around the football field with blankets and chairs to watch the unfortunate overcast at the brand new “senior sunrise”.
Seniors played music, sat with friends and ate breakfast around 6 a.m., leaving as they pleased before the 8:30 a.m. school start time.
While other schools in the area, like Carondelet and Northgate High School, have thrown the event for years, this was Acalanes’ first year opting into the tradition. However, it wasn’t the first time Leadership had discussed the idea.
By Nell Kessenich
“I have heard seniors talk about wanting to do a ‘senior sunrise’ for at least five years,” Leadership teacher Katherine Walton said.
Having finally kicked off the tradition this year, the classes of ‘20, ‘21 and ‘22 can expect a “senior sunrise” themselves, as the new annual event will kick off that first Friday of every school year, a “senior sunset” following the event during second semester finals. The goal for both events is to signify seniors entering their final year of high school and then heading off into the real world.
“Sarah Westergren really spearheaded this event after hearing about it from other schools at a Leadership conference over the summer, and she worked with fellow Leadership students to make it happen,” Walton said.
Money left over from the “senior barbeque” and “car decorating” fund was used to purchase a breakfast of bagels, doughnuts, juice and hot chocolate for the students who attended.
“I feel that this event was a really big success,” Associated Student Body Social Secretary Julia Helvey said. “With something new like this, you never really know if people will show up, or even like it, but I heard really good things.”
In coming years, there is the possibility to turn the “senior sunrise” into a more formal event, with additional music and games, tells Walton.
“My goal for seniors in general is to provide as many opportunities for the class to hang out together, so by adding the barbeque in addition to car painting, or having the ‘senior sunrise’, it gives seniors an opportunity to all hang out together before the end of the school year,” Walton said.