After a few years of unsuccessful bonding programs, four senior girls have created a big sister little sister program for senior and freshmen girls. Their success is obvious with a total of 82 pairs of senior and freshmen girls. Lindsay Duca ‘17, Kenzie Fee ‘17, Emma Keane ‘17 and Grace Ruppert ‘17 created this classic, but new program because they wanted to make the freshmen girls’ transition into high school as smooth as possible.

“I thought it would be a good way to get to know the freshmen and make sure that they feel welcome to their new school. And show them how the high school has different opportunities than the middle school,” Lily Mundell ‘17 said.  

This program allows these girls to grow close with their “sister” and get to know more about the high school through their assigned senior.

“It’s good to get to know a senior so that she can help me with all the stuff I need to know about highschool and it’s really fun too,” Bella Poortenga ‘20 said.

Duca wanted to start this program because when she was a freshman she valued getting to know seniors and feeling connected.

“The reason why I wanted to start this program last spring, was because when I was a freshman being on sports teams with seniors really helped me connect with the entire school and feel more comfortable in the hallways, like having people to say hi to,” Duca said. “And feeling more included in the overall high school atmosphere. So I guess my goal is to bring the whole school together, the girls especially.”

After senior retreat, the seniors all came to the program’s kickoff party, and started to get to know the freshmen girls.

“Orientation night, with seniors and freshmen, after senior retreat was pretty crazy but we rallied and had a lot of girls come out; we made necklaces, did activities, had bonding, there was speed dating, and pizza. Just a lot of getting to know each other and introducing each other,” Duca said.

After orientation, the four executives paired all 165 girls involved. For the past three weeks, the girls have been getting to know each other better. It’s up to them what they choose to do.

Over the past few weeks sisters have gone out to lunch, have gotten ice cream and have supported each other at their sporting events. Kiki Katsumata-Smith’s ‘20 big sister, Nada Aouad ‘17, came to cheer on at one of her field hockey games.

The pairs will continue to bond separately, but the four leaders of the program are planning more events and outings for everyone to do together as well.   

The importance of feeling connected and having a friend to say hi to in the hallways impacts both the freshmen and seniors in a positive way. It is exciting that this kind of program has been successfully implemented into the high school this year, and that there has been such positive feedback. If you’re still not convinced, checkout instagram and the hashtag #egrsisterhood, to see the success yourself!