One of the most memorable events for RMA students is senior night–a big party the night before the first day of school to celebrate the start of senior year. The Class of 2025 had its gathering at Micah Boseman’s farm in Whitakers on Sunday, August 19 so that the seniors could camp out all together.

As soon as they arrived, students set up their tents and started spray-painting the traditional senior t-shirts. (Seniors wear these the first day of school and again on Senior Prank Day.) Most everyone drew diagonal stripes across their shirts or created a camo-like design in red and blue, but Ava Swanner–a talented artist–put her own spin on things by incorporating a circular pattern with the colors. No matter the background design, all seniors proudly wrote RMA across their shirts before hanging them on the fence to dry, not knowing that it would rain later that night.

Before the weather took a turn, seniors had the chance to dance while playing their favorite music. New senior Stone Ramey–whose senior spotlight also appears in this issue of The Examiner–shared his favorite song, “Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. As things wound down, the seniors enjoyed macaroni and cheese and sat around the campfire, sharing elementary and middle school memories until the rain sent everyone inside their tents. Thankfully, the Bosemans were kind enough to drive out to the campsite to pick everyone up around 2 am, and we headed back to the house to sleep for just a couple of hours before it was time to head to campus.

The next morning, the sleepy seniors returned to campus at 6 am so their parents could pick them up to shower before the big day. Everyone–seniors and their parents–attended the Senior Breakfast together in the cafeteria to spend their last first day of school together. This year, the fifth graders–who have been our “buddies” since freshman year–provided fruit, donuts, and chicken biscuits from Chick-Fil-A and Bojangles to give us the energy we’d need to get through a school day with so little sleep.

Although the rain and exhaustion could have ruined the start to senior year, students will instead have great stories to share about coming together as friends and classmates at the start of their final year together. It was a very special time for the class of 2025, and we’re looking forward to making more memories in the coming months.