Every high schooler here at Cooper looks forward to is being adopted by a kindergartener their senior year. The class of 2020 has been so excited to meet their kindergartener; once we had gotten the picture of our kindergarteners, that’s all anyone was able to talk about. When the day came to finally meet them, we were all ecstatic. As soon as the first period was over, we all excitedly waited outside the Student Center to meet them, excited to share ice cream sandwiches with them. The door opened, and we all rushed inside to meet the class of 2032. The room was immediately filled with chatter and laughter as the seniors and kindergartners got to know one another. Once all of our ice cream was eaten and our faces were clean, we rangled our kindergarteners and took them on a tour of the Upper School. We showed them around our classrooms, introduced them to our teachers, and showed them the Rock building. Once we returned them to the Lower School and gave them big hugs, we were all even more excited for the Chuck E. Cheese field trip next week.

Exactly one week after the ice cream party, the senior class all sat in the Lower School waiting to take the kindergarteners to Chuck E. Cheese. We were all there in our matching shirt with the Class of ‘20 written on them, and as the kindergarteners with the Class of ‘32 printed on their shirts walked in, they were met with hugs and big smiles. After a quick bus ride, we arrived at Chuck E. Cheese, everyone bouncing off the walls with excitement. As soon as we had gotten our tickets, many of the kindergarteners wanted to go in the Fun Zone, forcing many too-tall seniors to get on their hands and knees and struggle through the small jungle gym. After that, we all played dozens of games to help win tickets for our kindergarteners, teaching them how to play whack-a-mole and skee ball. We watched them all talk to their friends and laugh at the different animals on the screens. Some seniors rode the carousel with them, trying not to fall off the very small horses. After a quick pizza break, we all raced back to play more games, before lining up to collect our prizes. Many kindergarteners walked away with balls, unicorn headbands, stuffed animals and loads of candy. Even though the line was long and loud, it was so worth it to see the little smiles on their faces as they held their prize.

On the bus ride back, it was so fulfilling to see the huge smiles and tired faces of the Class of 2032, with their new prizes in their hands. As senior Madison Breaux said “Going through the Fun Zone four times was worth it.” As the senior class dropped them off at the Lower School, everyone gave them huge hugs and promised to come and play with them again soon.