The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Adopt a Senior effort takes off
With graduations canceled, sponsoring families fill the gap
TORRINGTON — The end of high school should be an exciting time spent with friends and family and while the pandemic took that away, two local parents decided to do what they could to make seniors feel special.
Torrington residents Dora Carr and Kellie Bournique began the effort last month after they saw a Facebook group that was getting high school seniors “adopted” by other members of their community. Each student receives cards and tokens of recognition to honor their high school years.
The moms decided to try the same thing in Torrington and the effort has grown to include close to 1,000 students from across the state.
Carr and Bournique created a Facebook page and begin inviting their friends to join. “It just took off,” Carr said. “I wrote my friends, she invited her friends, then they’d invite their friends ... people started inviting more and more people.”
The pair knew from personal experience how tough the coronavirus pandemic has been on
students.
Carr’s son Bryon is graduating from Oliver Wolcott Technical High School, and Bournique’s daughter Chelsea is completing her studies at the Academy of Science and Innovation in New Britain. Both seniors are disappointed that they won’t be able to walk for graduation, or spend time with their friends.
“(In) April, we both thinking about helping the seniors somehow, and then Kellie called me on a Saturday, and said she saw something online in New Mexico, where parents were getting seniors adopted,” Carr said. “We thought at first we’d stay around Litchfield County and just include our friends, but now we have kids from all over Connecticut. We’ve got close to 1,000 students adopted.”
Bournique said she “stumbled on this senior adoption page,” and “thought Connecticut needed this.”
“My daughter missed out on a lot of things this year. She’s OK, but she wanted to go to her prom, and she didn’t go to any other functions,” Bournique said. “She got a very special dress, so she was bummed about not being able to go.”
So far, Chelsea Bournique’s adopting family has sent her gifts, a gift card, and a lawn sign decorated by the family’s 4-year-old twins.
“The outpouring of support has been amazing,” Kellie Bournique said. “For all these kids, maybe even just getting their favorite candy and a card, just puts a smile on their faces,” she said. “They deserve to be recognized for all their hard work.”
For the parents, the elimination of June activities for seniors was just as difficult.
“It’s hard for everyone,” said Carr. “I feel bad for the
kids, because it’s such an important time in their life. They all have worked so hard, and they haven’t seen their friends much at all, other than face time on the computer or the phone. It’s just not the same.”
High school seniors aren’t the only ones who are losing out on end-ofyear celebrations.
“There are eighth-graders and fifth-graders who are leaving their middle or elementary schools and going to a new school next year, and they haven’t had that chance to say goodbye to their friends and their teachers,” Carr said. “So it’s hard for all of them.”
The women have continued adding names of eligible seniors to the page. “If you want to adopt a senior, look under who’s available and pick one,” Carr said.
“I’m approving 20 to 30 students every day, meaning someone wants to adopt them,” Bournique said. “The other day, a parent contacted us about doing the same thing in her town in New York.”
An eligible student is posted on the page with photos and a short biography. “If a family want to adopt them, they message us and then contact the student’s parents,” Bournique said.
“Some of these adoptions have turned into pretty cool friendships, too,” Carr said. “The adopters can send a card with a gift card, or send a present to them. My son was adopted by someone from Post University (where he’s going in the fall) and they sent him a sweatshirt and a hat from the school, and a gift card.”
Carr adopted four students.
“I sent my last package out today,” she said. “It’s a brother and a sister ... the sister’s very artistic, so I sent art supplies, a T-shirt and a bracelet. Another one was getting his Eagle Scout badge, and so it was a chance to congratulate him with a special card.”
Adopting families are getting very creative with their gifts, the women said. “There’s one mom who’s trying to reach out to kids who are enlisting this summer in the armed forces,” Carr said. “There’s another one who surprised the student he adopted with driving school lessons .. he’s going to UConn for nursing, and he hasn’t gotten his driver’s license yet.
“It’s been so great, reading all about the kids and their accomplishments,” she said. “Getting to know people ... it’s been a lot of fun, and something really positive.”
The gifts don’t have to be big, Carr said. “It depends on the connections you’re making with the parents and the student,” she said. “But it’s just a way to recognize that they’re special, that they’ve accomplished something that’s so important.”
Carr and Bournique plan to continue the Adopt-ASenior page until mid-June. “I think that gives people enough notice,” Carr said. “If people want to do it, they need to do it now.”
They hope the local schools will find a way to recognize the students in June. “It would be so nice, even in June, to maybe let some of the seniors back in their schools, let them go to their lockers, or see their school, just to give them a chance to say goodbye,” Carr said. “Hopefully they’ll be able to do something.”
To sponsor a senior or post a senior to be adopted, go to their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups /1300962470096507/?ref= share.