First Caldera high seniors cap off the year with sunset celebration

Published 5:45 am Friday, June 7, 2024

As the sky darkened, the music got louder and the Caldera High School seniors celebrated as a once-in-their-lifetime moment intersected with history.

Students accepted brightly-colored scoops of ice cream and cups of espresso from the Sweet Retreat Scoop-N-Sip truck Wednesday night as they made their way onto the football field.

Some tossed a football as others lined up for the photo booth to take snaps with fun props. Parent organizers offered markers to the school’s 255 seniors so they could decorate their cars and glow sticks for when the evening got fully dark.

Not that the Class of 2024 needed a reminder that their time in high school was over, but there was already a stage in the middle of the football field, ready for Saturday’s graduation ceremony.

Though senior events are common all over, for Caldera it marked something that only comes once at a high school: the first senior class.

The students in the Class of 2024 started in the fall of 2021 as sophomores when the school opened. These students were the ones to help build Caldera’s culture, and they may not see each other again after this weekend.

They started their final year with a sunrise event on the first day of school, Sept. 7, standing on the same football field where they stood Wednesday. It was the first of traditions the Class of 2024 wanted to create.

“I loved having the senior sunrise at the beginning of the year, because it gets us all together (to) meet new people,” said Beylie Smith, 18, as classmates enjoyed the football field activities. “And then at the end of the year saying goodbye to those people, I think it’s just a great way to put it.”

Ice cream and glow sticks

Smith, who is going to Linfield University in the fall to major in business, had good moments throughout the year, but does feel ready to go onto college and move away from home.

“Keep up with your work and make the most of it, go to every event you can, and it’ll be a good year,” she advised future seniors.

Raffaele Aiello, 18, said he is planning to take a gap year to work on self-discovery. He’s hoping to pursue music and is learning piano and guitar.

“It doesn’t feel real,” he said of graduating. “It felt like I was in sophomore year here yesterday, but now I’m about to walk the stage, so it’s pretty cool.”

Caleb Knapp, 18, is excited to move on to college, while Natasha Dirk, 18, feels more bittersweet and said there’s a lot of people she’ll miss.

“I think it’s nice, setting a beginning and end to the year,” Dirk said of the sunrise and sunset tradition. “We’re all together for it. I think we should carry it on for the next classes.”

Knapp, who will be heading to Central Oregon Community College to become a paramedic, advised future seniors not to procrastinate, while Dirk, who is going to Oregon State University-Cascades to study biology, said it’s important not to over-stress yourself.

Miranda Vogel, 18, said, “It’s been a long four years, and it’s nice to be done with it and move on to future things.”

She will be studying political science and psychology at Oregon State University. She advised future seniors to branch out into different interests, look into internships, enjoy their last year, and avoid getting addicted to caffeine.

Milestones of the year

As he stood on the football field, principal Chris Boyd said he was feeling excited about graduation week.

“We’ve just had some fun celebrations with our students, and today was really our last day with our students, our seniors,” said Boyd on Wednesday. “It’s just been a really fun week of just celebrating our kids.”

Students were honored with awards Tuesday night, and dual immersion graduates were recognized last week.

“They’re leaving a legacy here, and they helped us build all of our programs and be a part of this school community and build a culture here,” he said.

Boyd said he’s been telling students that all the people around them and their experiences at school have gotten them to where they are now.

Caldera is Bend’s newest high school, funded using a 2017 bond measure. This year, the school held approximately 1,200 students in all four grades.

Milestones from the year included: the girls softball team hosted its first playoff game and won, the Caldera football team had a major win over Bend high and the girls’ soccer team won a league title.

Families are excited and feeling bittersweet

Parents put a lot of work into the sunset event, said Nydia Acosta, who is on the Caldera Family Organization. The organization spent time fundraising and coming up with ideas. Parents ensured that all senior events were free throughout the year so every student could participate, which was an important goal.

“We just wanted the kids to have the best graduation that they could have, the best party, the best memories,” she said. “It’s very emotional. These kids have been through a lot. And to see that this class has been able to move past that and here they are graduating in person, it’s a big deal.”

Acosta will be stepping down from the organization next year since her senior is heading to Central Oregon Community College next year.

Trala Colligan, whose son is graduating and going to welding school, said the first class has created a lot of events for the rest of the classes to build on.

“Just watching the school come together and have their first year, it’s been great,” she said. “(My son) was a football player for Caldera as well, so he got to go to the first state playoff with them, so that was really exciting for us.”

Standing on the field as seniors arrived and the event started, Boyd said he’s been part of the school’s journey over the past five years. He is amazed at the journey the Caldera community has taken to get here.

“Now it’s a school with a community and families and students,” said Boyd. “I’ve had a number of moments in the last week where I just sit back and take it all in.”