SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Parents threw a picnic for their graduating seniors at the top of the hill at Spanish Fort High School on Friday.

Though it was a typical picnic with food, music, tents and Frisbees, it was a flurry of activity as yearbooks were autographed, photos snapped, and parents and their offspring talked about the upcoming graduation and plans for the future.

The picnic is a good way for the seniors to be together and have fun out of uniform, Gail Cates, a senior class sponsor said.

The class picnic brought back fond memories of her own graduation, Cates said.

“At this time in your life, you remember everything you did,” she said. “This is their first time to say goodbye as seniors.”

Jay and Kathy Brown said their daughter, Christina, is totally ready to move on.

Kathy Brown said her daughter had the right tools to be successful. The family moved here from Miami about a year ago, and Christina has liked attending a smaller school compared to the one in Florida.

“It will be her first and last year to attend school here,” Kathy Brown said.

The graduating senior plans on attending Faulkner State Community College for two years before transferring to either Auburn or the University of Alabama.

At the picnic, SFHS math and baseball coach Tommy Walker grilled hot dogs and hamburgers while his son, Gil, enjoyed the festivities. The family moved here three years ago from Birmingham.

“We all started together,” he said. “For the most part it has been wonderful. The school has had growing pains, but great growing pains. My hat’s off to them.”

Though Gil Walker said he is ready to move on to the next stage of his life, he still plans on remaining in touch with his high school friends.

“With college comes responsibility, and it is a good feeling to make decisions,” he said.

He plans on attending Wallace State College in Hanceville, where he will major in communication and minor in secondary education.

“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Shaelah Walker said about graduating.

Attending the senior picnic was important to her, as it will be the very last time the graduating seniors would be together, except for the graduation ceremony, she said.

Walker plans on attending the University of South Alabama in Birmingham where she will major in biology and minor in psychology. She would like to eventually enter premed and specialize in pediatric autism.

Walker was the public relations officer for Project Reach, a program at SFHS which encouraged interaction between autistic children and neurotypical students.

Emily Atchison said she is looking forward to attending Auburn University on a full scholarship where she will major in chemical engineering. Her mother, Cheryl Atchison said she has mixed feelings about her daughter graduating from high school.

“You worry about the unknown and them making right decisions,” she said. “But I am so happy to see them working towards success.”

This is a great group of kids who have had a good time together for three years, Cates said.

"We feel like we have raised some kids,” she said.