King Tut and his ancient Egyptian army of seniors have taken over and decorated the quad as part of an old Gunn tradition. “The First Day activities were designed as a way for the new senior class to declare their new status, and to celebrate the start of their last year of high school,” Student Activities Director Lisa Hall said.


To choose the first day theme, the senior class held a meeting during the last week of school. There, they brainstormed and then voted on their top choices, narrowing a field of around 30 possible themes to their three favorite in order of preference: “Alice in Wonderland,” “Ancient Egypt” and “Army.”

Although “Alice in Wonderland” won the vote by a small margin, the senior class chose “Ancient Egypt” instead. According to Principal Noreen Likins, the administration didn’t veto “Alice in Wonderland” outright, but suggested that the theme be changed. “The school dress code states that we do not allow clothing that advertises or glorifies the use of drugs or alcohol,” Likins said in an email. “[The student government and I] agreed it could be difficult to control the drug references, (Alice is rife with them!) and we felt that was not desirable for opening day.”

After talking with the administration, the senior class decided to change the theme to “Ancient Egypt” to keep the first day fun and appropriate. “The administration wasn’t really comfortable with ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ and we didn’t want a lot of people getting in trouble,” senior class vice president Sarah Simonetti said. “Despite it being a children’s book, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ contains an abundance of drug references.”

One of the most important rules regarding the senior theme is to keep it on the “down low.” “It’s more fun if the theme is kept a secret,” Simonetti said. “I’m careful about where I talk about it.”

The sphinx and pyramids that adorn the quad today were constructed by members of the senior class from scratch. According to Simonetti, the budget for all the decorations is usually kept under $400 and all of the money comes out of the senior class budget. The ancient Egyptian decorations were constructed at various seniors’ houses and kept as hidden as possible from the other classes. “The entire senior class was invited to help build the structures,” senior class president Miles Mathews said. “A bunch of people came and gave it their all; it’s going to be an awesome day.”


According to Assistant Principal of Guidance Kim Cowell, the tradition has been going on for over 20 years. Last year’s theme was “Lost” and the year before it was “Jumanji.”