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Date: 5/7/2020
SOUTHWICK – With school buildings closed for the rest of the year and the status of graduation up in the air, the Adopt-a-Senior Facebook group has set out to make the year special for Southwick Regional School seniors.
Jennifer D’Angelo Wheeler, a mother of a senior and a volunteer helping with the oversight of the group, explained she became involved after a teacher started the movement but was looking to pass the torch. With inspiration from similar efforts around the country, Adopt-a-Senior aims to form a link between seniors and the community to support them through what has become a tumultuous and disappointing end to their high school careers.
“We’re doing what we can to brighten the situation for these kids because it truly has been awful,” she said. “We want them to feel acknowledged because this has been hard enough to deal with. Anyone can get behind these kids during their COVID-19 2020.”
Parents or seniors can put the students “up for adoption” by posting a photo as well as a short bio so the public can get to know the potential adoptees better. More than one person or organization may sponsor a senior, but the goal is to have all of the seniors in the group accounted for by June 5, the day before graduation was supposed to take place.
Adoption can take different forms, D’Angelo Wheeler said.
“It can be as simple as a card or a note. It could be a gift or something from the school,” she explained. “It could also be a donation. One girl said she didn’t want anything and asked instead for a donation to the humane society.”
Response to the effort has been strong thus far, D’Angelo Wheeler added.
“So far 13 or 14 seniors have been posted and adopted,” she said. “When I first joined the group, there were 60 or 70 people and now we are up to 146 [on April 29].”
To adopt a senior, join the Southwick Tolland Granville RSD Class of 2020 Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1311675245699024/.
A Facebook event specifically for the Adopt-a-Senior campaign can be found at https://www.facebook.com/events/283716315953826/.