LYNNFIELD — This time of year normally means the beginning of a time when seniors have nothing on their minds but spending their final high school days together at proms, awards nights, class banquets, day trips and, of course, graduations.
COVID-19 has changed all that.
Faced with the inevitable loss of some of the most memorable moments of students’ high school experience, many administrators, teachers and parents have stepped up to help fill the void and give seniors some special memories to hold onto.
The latest project is the brainchild of parents Jill
Stelman and Jane Skelley, who hit the ground running last week with their “Adopt a Lynnfield Senior” initiative.
Through the program, every Lynnfield senior will be matched with a sponsor (think Secret Santa) who will do at least one special thing a day for them during Senior Week from June 1-5.
The program has its origin in New Mexico last month when a woman named Mary Storey created a Facebook page to help celebrate seniors through unexpected acts of kindness, such as gift-giving. The program went viral, reaching across the nation in various forms, all geared to help keep things positive through the end of the school year.
Stelman said she learned about the program through a friend in North Andover on May 5. She then called Skelley that same day to get her thoughts on whether Lynnfield could do the same.
“We both have kids who are seniors and Jane and I volunteer together a lot, so I called her right away and she said ‘absolutely, we should do this,’” said Stelman. “Senior Week is a big deal in Lynnfield, so we figured why not do it then. You couldn’t believe how quickly it took hold. It took only two days to have almost 130 of the 155 or so seniors signed up, and we ended up with more people wanting to adopt seniors than we had seniors.”
Stelman said they sent emails to parents of seniors to see if they wanted to participate, then posted notice on the Lynnfield Community Facebook page. Efforts are underway to reach students who have not yet responded.
“We went live on May 6 and got the word out, and then parents of seniors started sharing it, so it just took off,” Stelman said. “Our plan is to have every single senior matched with a sponsor.”
By May 8, Stelman said they had 149 sponsors who signed up, including several who volunteered to drive to Boston so that METCO students were included.
The hardest part has been trying to honor sponsors’ special requests, Stelman said.
“We are getting people requesting as an example, a senior who might have babysat for their kids, things like that,” Stelman said. “I get the sense the community really wants to be involved.”
Stelman said gift ideas include things like flowers, baked goodies and personalized signs and that there is no limit as to the number of gifts or the value.
“It doesn’t have to be a lot of money, just things to make the kids happy,” said Stelman, adding that she will be posting gift suggestions on Facebook this week as well as reaching out to local businesses in hopes of being able to help give sponsors more choices.
