Ava Hazzouri ’22 and her grandmother pose for a picture at lunch(photo courtesy of Campbell Kelly ’22).
Kate Getz ’21 is joined by her four grandparents to celebrate the day(photo courtesy of Campbell Kelly ’22).
Jessie Miller ’22 takes her grandmother to class with her after lunch(photo courtesy of Campbell Kelly ’22).
Mia Magnotta ’21 and Marco Magnotta ’22 enjoy lunch with their grandparents(photo courtesy of Campbell Kelly ’22).
By Campbell Kelly ‘21
A smattering of gray was sprinkled throughout the upper campus of Wyoming Seminary on October 3, 2018. It was Grandparents’ Day. The warm bond between students and grandparents was felt as soon as they were united with hugs and kisses at the Kirby Center. Each grandparent received a keepsake of a Wyoming Seminary keychain while entering the KCCA. The special day began with chapel which included moving performances by the chorale, meaningful readings by William Berger ‘19 and Claire Conlan Evans ‘52, and an inspiring invocation about our past, present, and future by Reverend Carrick. After chapel, the students, many of them holding a hand of an arm of an older loved one, patiently made their way over to the gymnasium for a lunch filled with laughter and love.
Next, off to class with the new students for the day, our grandparents. Typically, most students are out of breath after sprinting up the three flights of stairs at Nesbitt Hall to get to class! But on this day, there was no rush. Grandparents took their time and gingerly ascended the stairs. Aided by their canes and helping hands, the determined grandparents all prevailed as they made it to the top!
Once in class, the grandparents looked delighted to live the daily life of a Sem student and particular the Young and Young-at-Heart to Remember. Mary Yvonne Butera Ballard made the trip from Hagerstown, Maryland. She beamed after seeing her granddaughter, Jessie Miller ‘22, shine as a student. “I am letting my granddaughter know that I believe education is important. My favorite part was watching Jessie answer a question correctly in Geometry!” Another grandmother, Donnie Norris of Lehman, Pennsylvania, soaked up all of the sights her granddaughter, Sommer Zier ‘21, showed her. Norris revealed, “I feel it was a privilege to be here. I am happy she is here and I hope she continues her education here. I liked her Biology class—it was interesting. She gave us a tour of some of the dorms. The campus is very nice! It is not like when I went to school!”
As meaningful as it was for the grandparents, it was just as significant for the grandchildren. Kate Getz ‘21 exclaimed, “It meant a lot for me to have all of my grandparents there with me because it is such a special day to celebrate them and all that they do for their grandkids. I know all of my grandparents really enjoyed their day and I think all grandparents that were on campus did. It means a lot to them to spend some quality time with their grandkids and kind of get to see what they do in a normal day here at Sem.”
After an abundance of hugs and kisses, it was finally time to bid each other farewell. The day had given us all so much. Most of all, valuable time and incredible memories shared between the young and young-at-heart as generations connected at Sem.