On Monday, April 17th, students filed into the auditorium for MX. Still wiping the sleep out of their eyes from the weekend, some took a while to process the new look of the student body seated in the eighth grade section. Fashion trends can happen overnight, but it seemed unlikely that the extensive array of sensible shoes and flip phones belonged to Parker students.

No, Skechers weren’t making a fashion comeback. Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day was debuting in the upper school.

The event gave students’ grandparents and friends an opportunity to experience Parker’s upper school first-hand. They had the option to either go to their high school student’s B period class or attend an informational tour around the school. After that, students escorted their guests to a Morning Exercise about the LGBTQ community by journalist and homeless youth activist Tracy Baim. Students were then able to eat an early lunch with their grandparents in the cafeteria.

Arriving at 8:45 a.m., the 60 participating grandparents and friends were welcomed with a breakfast that included presentations by Principal Dan Frank and the Robotics team.

While Associate Director of Development Constance Molzberger took the lead in the event, the initial idea came from the grandparents themselves. “The Grandparents Committee wanted to find ways to be engaged with their grandchildren,” Molzberger said. “They wanted to find their own niche in the school.”

Despite the careful planning of Grandparents’ Day, obstacles arose. “With any event you start, there are going to be hiccups,” Molzberger said. “It had never been done before, and no one really understood what it was going to be.”

Among these conflicts was the inability of 11th graders to host their grandparents, as they were on a Civic Engagement field work day.

Frona Daskal, grandmother of freshman Natalie Daskal, was in attendance. “I really liked the first presentations when they talked about the school and the current projects,” she said. “And seeing my granddaughter in a classroom setting was a real treat.”

After the event, Molzberger’s inbox flooded with emails talking about the success of the event. “The grandparents all had a wonderful day,” Molzberger said. “They were so happy to be here and so happy to see their grandchildren and what makes Parker so unique.”

Upper School Science teacher Bridget Lesinski hosted grandparents in her 9th grade biology class. “It was fun to see so many grandparents in the audience,” Lesinski said, “because sometimes we worry high school students aren’t as close to their grandparents as they used to be when they were younger.”

Lesinski made sure to give grandparents a true Parker experience, she said, by holding the class as she normally would despite the visitors. “It’s about giving grandparents an authentic day in the life,” Lesinski said. “I didn’t want to disturb that.”

Freshman Nicole Feitler hosted grandparents Robert and Joan Feitler during the event. According to Feitler, Upper School English teacher and Department Co-Chair Theresa Collins managed to include relatives into their discussion of “Of Mice and Men.” “All the grandparents went around and said their favorite memory in their high school English class,” Feitler said. “It was fun listening to their stories and learning from them.”

Four grandparents sat in blue chairs in the back of Upper School Science teacher Leslie Webster’s Anatomy Physiology class. They listened intently to a class discussion about the digestive system, occasionally nodding their heads and smiling. “It was really a treat to see the students interacting with their grandparents,” Webster said, “and to have the grandparents engaged in our discussion.”

Freshman Harrison Radis, who hosted his grandmother, believes that the main goal of Upper School Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day was achieved. “I think the main thing grandparents ever really want is to build that strong connection with their grandchildren,” Radis said. “With this day, it’s possible.”