Quentin Lemon
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the country inside out and upside down over the last two months, forcing the closure of workplaces, nonessential businesses and the humdrum of normal life. It also forced schools to close and pivot to online learning for the rest of the year. All students are missing out on end-of-the-year activities, but none more so than high school seniors. In an attempt to ease the pain of missing prom and graduation, West Orange residents have “adopted” seniors in town; they pair up with a graduate and send them a card, gift or words of encouragement.
“This has left 400 students without that final walk across the stage,” Dawn Adams, an organizer of the Facebook group “Adopt a West Orange Class of 2020 Senior” said in a May 14 phone interview. “We have close to 140 seniors who have been adopted, and our hope is that everyone participates.”
Adams’ son is a junior at West Orange High School, so she’s hoping that by next spring his class will be able to have its moment. The idea came from Michelle Cadeau, whose son Justin is a senior at WOHS this year. He was adopted in a larger statewide group, and Cadeau thought she would make it local.
“He was adopted, and those people just wanted to make his and others’ lives a little brighter, because things are hard for them right now,” Cadeau said in a phone interview with the Chronicle on May 14. “I thought this could be a good way to pay it forward.”
Seniors who join the group make an Amazon wish list filled with things they want and tell the community about themselves. Residents then comment when they find a person they think would be a good match, and it’s up to them what they want to do for the senior. Sometimes, Cadeau said, people looking to adopt a senior ask for specific students.
“We had one person who wanted to adopt someone on the track team, to honor his dad who was on the team,” she said. “They usually have a reason, like, ‘I went to that college you’re going to,’ or ‘I was also on this team,’ or ‘I was also the daughter of a single mom.’ It’s up to the person who sponsors.”
The group isn’t open only to WOHS seniors. As long as a student is graduating and lives in West Orange, they can join. St. Peter’s Prep senior Quentin Lemon is one of them.
“When I saw it I wasn’t sure, because I don’t go to West Orange,” Lemon said in a May 15 phone interview. “It meant a lot to me to see that I was still welcome and part of the community. A lot of people are struggling right now, so to have a positive outlook on what seems like a bad year is nice. It’s great to see that everyone in town really cares about their students.”
Lemon is committed to play football at Bucknell University in the fall, which he hopes is still going to happen. But until then, he knows he still has a surprise coming from his wish list.
WOHS senior Sophie Hyder said missing out on the last few months of her time in the school district has been difficult.
“Some of us, myself included, have been looking forward to prom and graduation all of high school and even younger,” she said in a May 15 email. “It is terribly unlucky, but we are all trying to stay hopeful that we may have something similar over the summer, although it may not be the exact same.”
Hyder was adopted through the Facebook group as well.
“It allows seniors to gain some recognition for our accomplishments from generous adults in our own town. They can send you money toward college and can purchase you school supplies and essentials for your dorm,” she said. “It has been very comforting during this difficult time, and, although we have lost some milestone events, it gives us seniors hope that things will be better with time if we stay optimistic.”
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