On August 8th, Armuchee High School celebrated its fourth annual senior sunrise breakfast, an event that began when Mr. Pethel became principal of the school. The sunrise symbolizes the beginning of senior year, with the newest graduating class looking beyond the horizon to both a literal and figurative bright beginning to their senior year. Many were excited for the upcoming event. “I was very excited for the sunrise, as it was the first time most of the senior class was together. It was awesome to see everyone and see how far we have come,” said Emma Reed, one of Armuchee High School’s seniors.
This class of seniors will be the first class to hold the honor of having Mr. Pethel for all four years of their high school career. “Y’all have had your full high school experience to where I’ve been able to watch you guys, and to see you guys grow into the leaders and just awesome people that you are is something that brings me a great source of pride,” said Mr. Pethel.
The seniors got up bright and early for the breakfast at 6:30. Many were on the fence about going due to the early arrival time. Noah Thompson, senior, made the choice to prioritize his sleep. He said, “It was better for me to sleep in.” Sebastian Castro, senior, felt slightly fatigued during the sunrise, however he did find the time to be reasonable. Similarly to Sebastian’s thoughts on the matter, Emma Peschel, senior, said “The early time was a little brutal. I had to get up very early, but I knew I wanted to go, so it was worth it.” Others, like Krish Patel, senior, enjoyed the early rising. Krish said, “I felt good about waking up early, and it made me realize that just how quickly I woke up is going to be how fast this year ends.”
After receiving their coffee and Chick-fil-A biscuits, Mr. Pethel started out the sunrise with a riveting speech on the importance of senior year and not rushing to graduate. Mr. Pethel was followed by Ryan Matherley, the youth and college pastor at Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church, located just a few miles down the road. Ryan emphasized the importance of involvement and trying new things. “For me, I always want to give the seniors some short pieces of application,” said Ryan. “A lot of the steps I recommend are things that I wish I had done.” Sebastian Castro, while not as excited as he had hoped to be due to the extended period of time spent standing, did say, “My main highlights were both Ryan and Mr. Pethel’s speeches.”
“My favorite part about the sunrise was the actual sunrise itself. It was the moment that really made me realize that senior year has began, and it won’t last long,” said Krish. For others, like Emma Read, it was the food and motivational speeches. This year had an incredible number of student turnout. Mr. Pethel said “we just had a great overall turnout, but what made me so happy about that was it seemed like every student had other students that they were friends with, you know, like, there was belonging, you know, by all of our students.” At the end of the school year, Armuchee will hold a senior sunset, symbolizing the end of what will hopefully be a long and gratifying senior year.
