Not often are there school events that aim to attract an entire class of students, as there is typically a struggle combining students with a variety of extracurriculars and schedules. However, Senior Sunrise- a longstanding high school tradition spanning across hundreds of schools- sought out to do just that.
While oftentimes schools host their Senior Sunrise on the first day of school, Wilsonville opted to wait until after the school year had gotten into swing before telling the students the date.
Wilsonville’s Leadership 2 class worked alongside school staff in order to organize and plan the event, with Marcus Washington (School safety and enforcement specialist) and Josh Davis (Assistant Principal and Athletic Director) aiding in setting up the movie among other things.
The movie shown was Toy Story 3, a heartbreaking reflection of the looming transition into college or work that us students will soon face. An emotional choice in film, broadcasted onto our new scoreboard screen.
After students began to fill in the field, a variety of colorful poster-board frames began to pop up among the attendees; reading “Senior Sunrise.”
Designed and created by the seniors, these bright props have repeatedly been the face of Wilsonville’s senior sunrise photos on social media applications such as Instagram.
Unlike these DIY signs, donuts were supplied by the school for the seniors to eat as they congregated on our home field. These donuts served as a tasty treat for the students to snack on after they had woken up before the sun.
Ethan Kinney, a Senior at Wilsonville already looks forward to Senior Sunset, explaining “I had a nice time at Senior Sunrise, and I think Senior Sunset will be even better.”
Senior Sunrise was a hit among students, being a wonderful event for each and every senior to come together and celebrate one another, individually reflect on our accomplishments in high school, and bask in our fleeting four years together.
Senior Xander Layne explained his experience, noting how he met up with friends before attending together. “I woke up around 5:15, we all got ready and we were here by 6.” He spent his time with his friends- enjoying the movie and the camaraderie before school.
Another bittersweet event; Senior Sunset will be hosted near the end of the year, where we will join one another one last time before our graduation in a similar fashion as Senior Sunrise.