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Community Leaves No Senior Behind for Morgan Class of 2020

Due to the pandemic, and the resulting disruptions to normal high school life, The Morgan School Class of 2020 caught the short end of the stick, to say the least. Luckily, a large group of volunteers stepped up to try to make sure that every senior at Morgan has their moment in the sun thanks to a new “adopt a senior” program.

The program is one that several area towns have instituted and was implemented in Clinton by Erin Gaudet. The way it works is simple: Gaudet started a Facebook page called “Adopt a Morgan Class of 2020 Senior” and in the group, family members or occasionally family friends of a senior post a small biography about the senior including their hobbies, interesting tidbits, future plans, etc. Other members of the community then pledge to adopt that senior—and then the fun starts.

Periodically the seniors are surprised with small gifts and signs of acknowledgment from their adoptive families. So far seniors have been gifted anything from cards to surprise decorations on their front lawn to baskets containing gift cards or apparel from their future schools.

“The kid’s reactions have been priceless. It’s so worth it,” Gaudet said.

The best part of the program is that the senior students don’t yet know who has been giving them the gifts. Currently the Facebook page is private, though Gaudet said she’ll accept anyone who wants to join the group, so long they are not a member of the Class of 2020.

During the week of June 3 to June 10, senior week for students at Morgan, the group will be made public and the students can find out who adopted them. Gaudet said the seniors have been very appreciative of all the attention from their anonymous donors.

“Just the fact that someone is writing to them. They’re being sympathetic to with the kids,” said Gaudet.

“This class really is a special bunch,” Gaudet lamented.

The Class of 2020 has had a particularly tumultuous year on top of the usual stresses of high school life according to Gaudet. The class tragically lost a member in the fall. In the beginning of the year, the region was dealing with the effects of another virus, which caused a number of school sports events to be rescheduled from the evenings. Then, just when things returned to normal and the spring weather was on the way, the COVID-19 outbreak arrived.

So much of what made school normal—prom, sports, the physical school building itself—were soon gone from daily life.

“It seemed like one disappointment after another. These kids have been stripped of so much,” Gaudet said.

As she reflected on what the class lost, Gaudet, who has a daughter in the Class of 2020, was inspired to honor the class in some way.

“I woke up one day and just said ‘This sucks—these poor kids,’” Gaudet remembered.

Gaudet said she got the idea for the program from a coworker at the Guilford fire house.

“One of the firemen was telling me about Guilford High School doing it so I looked at it,” Gaudet said.

After gathering more information on how the idea works, Gaudet started the Morgan page on April 29.

The response to the idea has been overwhelmingly positive. The group has nearly 500 members at press time and is filled with photos of seniors showing off their anonymous gifts as well family members thanking the adoptive families.

“Every time there was a student eligible for adoption, within an hour, tops, these people were getting adopted,” said Gaudet.

The people who are offering to adopt the seniors aren’t just from the families of the graduates, or even just from friends of families, but also the from the community at large.

“It’s been the townsfolks of Clinton that have been doing it. People have been writing how happy they are it’s being done,” Gaudet said.

Of the 151 members of the senior class, there are still 19 seniors who need someone to adopt them to make sure every member of the class is covered.

“My main concern is to make sure everyone is involved so nobody is left out,” said Gaudet.

To adopt a senior, join the Facebook group “Adopt a Morgan Class of 2020 Senior” and send Gaudet a message with your interest.