The Class of 2026 gathered to celebrate Senior Sunrise and mark the beginning of their final year on Aug. 8. Over 200 seniors arrived at the top level of the parking garage before dawn in custom-painted overalls to reunite with friends and watch the sun rise together at 6:30 a.m.
Organized by the Student Council, the celebration featured complimentary breakfast from The Bagel Shop Bakery and Classic Donuts. Seniors signed a class banner with their names and messages as a keepsake for the year. They also posed at a Love Island–themed poster photo booth set up by Belles dance team volunteers. Many students sported custom-painted red-and-white overalls, a Texas senior tradition.
Sophomore and student council historian Chloe Ray captured the morning through on-camera interviews.
Questions ranged from “Where do you see yourself at the end of high school?” to “What advice would you give your freshman self?”
“It feels really good when you take an interview with one senior and then there’s a bunch of others lining up saying, ‘Hey, I want to get an interview too,’” Ray said. “It’s just a fulfilling feeling.”
Ray’s interviews were one part of a larger Student Council effort, with members arriving before 5:30 a.m. to set up. This year’s Senior Sunrise saw the highest turnout with over 200 seniors in attendance.
Student Council co-sponsor Jennifer Elam reflected on the “success” of Senior Sunrise.
“This is the first class that I taught when I came to Bellaire, so seeing them all grown up is really gratifying,” Elam said. “Our kids did an amazing job. The event’s gotten bigger every time.”
For senior Rustin Golshan, the sunrise was literally and figuratively the “dawn of our final year.”
“It’s definitely emotional, seeing all these people I’m gonna graduate with in June,” Golshan said. “This is the final stretch for all of us. It’s the beginning of the end.”
Keep up with Bellaire students on Instagram @bellairehigh and Student Council programming @bellairestuco.
