Senior year brings with it many exciting privileges and traditions, but a favorite is Kindergarten-Senior Adoption. Every September, the current kindergarten class adopts the senior class, with each kindergartener matched with either one or two seniors. This year’s adoption ceremony took place on September 21st, with the Class of 2035 adopting the Class of 2023. This tradition is intended to unite the school community across divisions and give the kindergarten class life-long role models. 

The following week, the kindergarteners and seniors officially met. They ate ice cream sandwiches together and the seniors showed their kindergarteners around the Upper School. The kindergarteners were fascinated with the hallways of the Upper School and enjoyed exploring the Rock. Evelyn Drake said, “It’s so interesting to see things from their perspective. My kindergartner looks at the world differently than I do and it’s fun to see the Upper School through her eyes.” I spent several minutes with my kindergartner staring at the fossil timeline in the Rock, something I walk past every day but never took the time to actually look at. It was so interesting to see her fascination with the fossils. How she craned her neck back as far as possible to see the top, how wide her eyes got as she took it all in, and the look of curiosity that passed over her face. The kindergarteners force us to slow down and examine commonplace things from new eyes, which is a very valuable exercise. 

The second kindergarten-senior meet-up took place in October. Activities included playing with a parachute, watching Little Einsteins, creating a picture frame, and eating snow cones. When reflecting on his relationship with his kindergartener, Kase Melodick said, “It’s fun to be a role model for my kindergartner and be their friend at the same time. We’ve formed a special connection.” Evelyn Drake says her favorite part of hanging out with her kindergartner is how it lets her inner child out. “Spending time with my kindergartner lets me feel like a kid again and reminds me that it’s okay to act childish every once and a while,” she said. Hannah Wene hopes her kindergartner got as much out of this experience as she did. She said, “I want my kindergartener to make lasting memories and enjoy spending time with me. I want her to see me as a role model. I want our relationship to be just as or even more special to her than it is to me.” The kindergartners bring out our youthful sides while pushing us to be great examples and the best versions of ourselves. 

The K-12 adoption tradition is beloved for many reasons. Kendall Cooper reflected on how she has grown since she was a kindergartener and what she wants to pass down to her kindergartener now that she is on the other side of the relationship. “I have gone through a lot of personal growth since kindergarten,” Cooper said. “I want to be a good mentor to my kindergartner and pass down some of the life lessons I have learnt.”  Hanging out with the kindergartners is a good reminder to stop and smell the roses every once and a while. As a class, we have been so focused on college applications, classwork, various responsibilities, and our impending futures that we sometimes forget to enjoy the little things. Our kindergarteners remind us that there is always something new to learn, and excitement can be found in the simplest of things. The bond between kindergartners and their seniors is a special relationship—one that will persist throughout the rest of our lives.