by Jessica McGrail
On Oct. 5, seniors celebrated their final year with the traditional Senior Sunrise, an event in which the senior class comes together to commemorate the beginning of their senior year by watching the sunrise together. This year, the event was completely student-run, organized by senior Cait Flanagan. Students met at 6:00 a.m. at the parking lot next to the Friant Dam on Millerton and Fork Road. Once everyone was accounted for, they then proceeded to drive up to the dam, park, and start walking to the center of the dam. Although there was not a visible sunrise for the seniors to observe because of smoke from local wildfires, there was positive feedback from many seniors.
Many attendees did not mind not seeing the sunrise; it was more about the company. Senior Jensen Bauer stated that it was “nice to see everyone and just make memories.” This event impacts senior year for every student as this is an annual tradition for the graduating class. Bauer also stated that because of her “being kind of new-ish to the school, it was nice being able to talk to some people and just getting to know them better.” During times like these, many students just want to be around each other again and experience human interaction.
As mentioned before, senior Cait Flanagan was a major player in working behind the scenes to coordinate the event. She stated that the planning took place mainly in online group chats to figure out a date, taking only about a day or two to organize. Although, she did say that it took “a couple of days to hear back if we were going to be able to use the dam.” Flanagan also had the assistance of seniors Kylee Best, Chloe Burcham, Megan Agajanian, and Jamie Pope in making signs to pose with for pictures. These were vital in capturing the memories that were made at the dam.
This event helped many students reclaim their senior year before their high school experience comes to an end. A big thanks is owed to Flanagan and the dam staff for making this possible and giving seniors a morning to remember.
