This has been a tremendously hard year for high school seniors. Schools and parents across the country are planning events to help lift seniors’ spirits with programs like Adopt-a-Senior and Drive-by Parades. Parents of seniors at Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees, NJ have come up with a different way to honor students, while also teaching them the joy of giving called “Senior Swap.” Eastern seniors who sign up will randomly be assigned another senior for two months of gift-giving and gift-getting fun.
“In the spirit of ‘it is better to give than to receive,’ we are providing our seniors the opportunity to get joy from both!” says Lynne Cona, a parent of an Eastern senior.
Another parent, Marci Rosenstein, explains “The high school administration is focused on the regular end-of-year activities, which is great! I want nothing more than my daughter to get to have a prom and a graduation. But with a class size of nearly 500, the grim reality is that these events involve large gatherings and just may not be allowable under NJ guidelines. Parents wanted to come up with a way to celebrate outside the school that doesn’t risk being shut down because of COVID.”
Students who sign up fill out a questionnaire to give an idea of what kind of gifts they’d like.
“Think elaborately wrapped candy baskets, decorated cars, and some other surprises that the parents are organizing for the participating seniors,” says parent Lisa Tofolo.
Any senior or parent of a senior at Eastern Regional High School who wants to join the fun can sign up at https://www.elfster.com/gift-exchanges/4149f138-6e3a-447b-abcd-fa93d99be424/?join=nde0 or send an email to [email protected].
