On Aug. 6, 2025, this year’s first day of school, seniors of Norton’s second graduating class flocked to the elementary school playground at sunrise, hours before school started, to honor their last first day of school as the horizon yellowed and brightened above the front office. Posters resembling a carefree, childlike aura announced “Senior Sunrise” in playful calligraphy. Students grabbed hot cocoa, competed against each other in cornhole, and glided down the playground slide.
Senior advisor and secondary music teacher Czarina Jimenez noted that the childhood theme this year brought students full circle.
“With this year’s senior sunrise, we wanted to capture the nostalgia and growth that students have had with our school since many of them started here in middle school or elementary school,” Jimenez explained. “We wanted to inspire those students to look back on their time at our school and feel motivated to take on leadership this year to improve events and build school spirit that could set an example for upcoming graduating classes.”
Associated Student Body (ASB) leaders and seniors also shared what inspired them about the senior sunrise theme.
“ASB helped design the posters and finalize the theme for this year’s senior sunrise,” Fernanda Hernandez (‘27), ASB treasurer, said. “Originally we were thinking of a more 2000s party scene vibe because this is a time to celebrate, right? But then we thought about it, and we realized that this is going to be their last first day, so we wanted to get them to reflect on where they started and where they are going. That childhood vibe is what inspired the rest of our decoration.”
“I’ve been at Norton since I was in Kindergarten,” senior Erynn Sanchez (‘26) said. “It feels really nice to be back where I started, even though this is a new and different campus than when I was in elementary school. At the same time, it is bittersweet, since I am leaving a place I have been at for so long. It feels like I am setting sail without directions after being anchored for so long. It does motivate me, though, to try harder academically this year and end on my strongest effort yet. That connects to what I want to really tell future seniors here–don’t give up because you don’t know what can be waiting for you at the end of the tunnel.”
