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Marietta High School seniors covered the campus with an estimated 1,000 rolls of toilet paper to celebrate the first day of school.
Marietta High School seniors covered the campus with an estimated 1,000 rolls of toilet paper to celebrate the first day of school. Brittany Edney reporting.
MARIETTA, Ga. - Marietta High School seniors welcomed the first day of classes by continuing a tradition that has become a rite of passage for generations of Blue Devils.
What we know:
An estimated 250 students gathered Monday evening to decorate the campus with toilet paper, covering trees, buildings and parking lots in what school officials estimate amounted to about 1,000 rolls.
The annual tradition dates back roughly 60 years and has become a hallmark of the first day of school at Marietta High.
The tradition has been passed down through multiple generations of Marietta families. One longtime resident told FOX 5 he participated in the event in the 1990s, his brother took part in the 1980s, and his son joined in just last year.
What they're saying:
School officials said the event is viewed as a fun way for seniors to mark the beginning of their final year of high school before volunteers help clean up the campus.
The first day of school also included a show of appreciation for Marietta City Schools bus drivers. Drivers were greeted with coffee and donuts before beginning their morning routes.
"Our bus drivers, for a lot of our students and families, are the first thing that they see. It's their first interaction with a Marietta City employee," a school official said. "We know that for many of our students and families, our bus drivers are that positive and trusted adult that they have ... so we want to make sure that our bus drivers are viewed as just an extension of the classroom for our families."
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What's next:
The celebration marked the start of another school year for students across the district while continuing a tradition that has remained part of Marietta High's culture for decades.