Before our students were Etowah Eagles, they were Bascomb Bobcats, Boston Bears, Clark Creek Redhawks, and Oak Grove Eagles. The four elementary schools that feed into E.T Booth Middle School, and therefore Etowah High School, were an instrumental part in shaping students’ character and academic skills all the way up to graduation. Lifelong memories and lessons that Etowah seniors experienced at their respective elementary schools will carry them across the stage on May 27.  

“Ever since I was little, I have always looked up to the graduates who got to walk the halls of Oak Grove. I could not wait to be like them one day, and now that that day has come, I feel that it will be a bittersweet moment. [I will be] starting a new chapter in my life but also letting go of good memories,” Alyssa OKeefe, senior, said.  

The Senior Walk is a sentimental experience, as it takes place only days before seniors will walk across the stage to receive their diplomas at First Baptist Church of Woodstock. It is a tradition for Etowah students to don their cap and gowns as they parade through their old elementary school building. They are cheered on by the current elementary students and teachers who line the halls outside of their classrooms for this occasion.  

“Going to walk through Bascomb as a graduate makes me feel proud of the journey I went through to get where I am today. The opportunity to see all my old teachers and the halls I used to walk in makes me feel grateful for all the hard work I put in during the last few years and all the help the people around me gave me to get to this point,” Joseph Lago, senior, said. 

Etowah’s seniors will fondly reminisce on class parties, spirit weeks, and field day events they participated in while attending elementary school. They will reflect on graduating from fifth grade, to eighth grade, and now finally leaving high school as well. The Senior Walk serves as a reminder for the graduating class of where their time as an Etowah Eagle began, as well as a reminder for the current students of the potential their future may hold if they continue their schooling in the Etowah district. It presents an opportunity for seniors to say farewell to their kindergarten through fifth grade teachers and the memories they contributed.  

“I can imagine that being able to return to my old elementary school is going to feel amazingly rewarding. Since I had a very close relationship with my teachers there, I am sure they will all be very proud,” Emma Milotic, senior, said.  

Oak Grove’s alumni will have their Senior Walk on Monday, May 22 at 9 a.m. Boston’s will take place the same day at 10 a.m., both walk-throughs lasting an hour. Clark Creek and Bascomb’s Senior Walk will be the next day, Tuesday, May 23, with the former’s at 9 a.m. and the latter’s at 10:30 a.m. Many seniors are looking forward to revisiting the place where it all started.  

“Even though most of my elementary teachers have retired, I know the Senior Walk will bring back awesome memories from my childhood to reflect on before graduation,” Carson Allen, senior, said. 

The Senior Walk is a bittersweet but memorable event for the future Etowah Eagles and the ones graduating, as well as a tradition that is sure to carry on for years to come.