By Isabel Costian

Students, staff, and community members attending the fourth annual picnic shaded their eyes from the sun and from the reflection caused by a sleek, shiny black Nissan Sentra SR parked on the track. Throughout the night, the car drew attention from the crowd by sparkling in the August sun on Wednesday night.

The car will be randomly awarded to one graduating senior from a high school in the district. The senior must have perfect attendance this year, with a few exceptions, including college visits and field trips. The car is a new incentive for seniors to attend more school days.

“I don’t want to get sick, but because of the Fates, I am ill,” senior Molly Molloy said. “I’ll probably try to attend school more often though.”

Courtesy Nissan, the company donating the car, is also ensuring that any student or staff member connected to the district will get a $100 donation to the club or organization of their choice with the purchase of a car from them.

The Nissan Sentra will be awarded, free of charge, to a senior in May, who will be able to choose the color.

Some seniors, like Alexandra Rankin, have already missed a day of school.

“I think that’s a really cool incentive, but I wish I would have known that two days ago when I started school,” Rankin said.

The Back to School picnic helped kick off the school year in the first week with around two thousand people in attendance.

“The picnic’s always fun,” Rankin said. “It gets bigger every year, which is cool to see.”

The event features performances from student groups, like Legacy, Desperados, Eaglettes, band, and cheerleaders. For many of these groups, the picnic is their first performance of the year.

“We’ve only been singing together for three days, but I think it went well,” senior Legacy member Destiny Bentley said.

During the picnic, free food was given, including hot dogs, chips, donut holes, and cotton candy. The picnic also lets clubs, organizations, and community members set up tables to provide information about their groups or companies while dance music is blasting through speakers to get the crowd excited for the school year.

“It’s fun,” freshman Zoe Barron said. “It’s hot, but it’s fun.”

The picnic is the first official spirit event of the year, providing opportunities for the school to show itself off and for students to have a chance to socialize outside of school.

“It’s nice to see everybody talk instead of being on their phones,” Bentley said. “It’s different.”

The seniors this year have had the annual picnic since their freshman year, with this year being the biggest in terms of sponsorship and community attendance.

“We always want the future to be bigger, with more involvement,” picnic organizer Jeff Bivins said.