A week into their final year of high school, seniors at Early College High School gathered in predawn Thursday to watch the sunrise.
They did it together.
This year’s ECHS senior class is the seventh for the unique Killeen ISD high school that combines two years of college with four years of high school.
The early-morning tradition at the start of senior year symbolizes the beginning of the end of high school.
The Class of 2025 will gather again next spring for a senior sunset at the school’s campus for freshmen and sophomores – “where it all began,” said Principal Kathleen Burke.
By 6:30 or so, as the sun peeked above the eastern sky, seniors were assembling, spreading blankets in a large field between the school’s two buildings on the Central Texas College campus.
Bursts of light from cell phones and old-school camera flashes popped sporadically across the field.
Several groups of friends organized for selfies crammed inside a decorated frame.
A line of weary students formed at a table laden with doughnuts, kolaches and juice.
As natural light pierced the early morning, more students posed and shot photos. A speaker appeared and music played.
Shortly after 7, the official sunrise, the 200 or so students made their way to a set of stone steps for an official group photo and some words of motivation from a pair of instructors.
Three senior leaders explained the importance of gathering as a class during the first full week of their final school year together.
They reflected on their first three years, acknowledged they have a load of work the next nine months and expressed optimism that the best is yet to come.
“This event signifies the start of our senior year and it’s very emotional because we’ve been together the past three years, and it will all come to an end at the sunset,” said Senior Class President Eli Salmeron.
“Everyone is even more connected right now,” he said. “I feel very proud. The past years were incredibly tough, so reaching this point as a class is significant.”
“It really brings us together, not just students, but teachers, too. It signifies that togetherness,” said Tanner Seitter, a student council and health club leader.
“It feels great because we’ve put in so much work, but we still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “We have to keep going forward.”
“I think it was really cool seeing everyone come together and have so much school spirit,” said Peyton Carpenter, a leader in the CEO Club and National Honor Society.
“It’s such a welcoming community and we’ve been through so much the past three years.”
“We’re all together and we love each other. It’s a happy moment.”
Experiencing the academic rigors of college together in a relatively small school develops a special comradery, she said.
“The closeness we’ve built as a student body and with our teachers, we get to know each other. We take the same classes with the same people, and a lot of the teachers followed us through, so we built a really personal bond with classmates and teachers.”
Photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/killeenisd/albums/72177720319714373/
