One of the biggest Derby High traditions is the touching and ringing of the bell.

As freshmen on your first day of school, you are taken out to the bell and you are allowed to touch it and — if you’re lucky — you get to hear principal Tim Hamblin give his speech about the history of the bell and what it means to the high school.

After that first day, most students forget about the bell and what it stands for; it becomes just something they pass on their way into school.

But as graduation comes closer, seniors start getting excited that they are given the privilege to ring the bell as the symbolic leaving of Derby High.

As a senior myself, ringing the bell is the moment I’ve been waiting for since I came to the high school and first touched it. All four years have led to that moment when I’m un-officially done with the school.

The sweet ringing of the bell can be heard for almost an hour on Thursday as all the seniors chime in the excitement of being done with high school and ringing in their new responsibilities as a Derby Alumni.