by Katelyn Hough
The mountain community has been working hard to make seniors feel special as they near the end of the year. Yosemite High School alumni Courtney Herrera started a Facebook page for the “Adopt a Senior”. Herrera said “I was fortunate enough to grow up in the mountain community and was a graduate of YHS in 2017 because of living in the area and having such amazing support I was able to have a wonderful high school experience and attend the college of my dreams. I wanted to be able to give back in a way that allowed this year seniors to still have a memorable experience although the traditional high school experience was taken away from them.”
The Facebook page grew and currently there are 1,548 members of the group and over 150 students that have been adopted. The concept is that a senior submits a small bio and attaches a picture and then family, friends, and even strangers can volunteer to “adopt”. The person who adopted reaches out and talks with the senior and puts together some type of gift for the student. Then they will get a surprise in the mail, or a gift left for them at their doorstep. When asked what her goals for the project were Herrera said, “Honestly there was no true goal or number that I wanted to hit. I just wanted to be able to spread happiness and showcase the amazing students that come from our community. I guess in the end you can say the goal was to try to break our students' days to the best of our ability even though these times are unsure and strange to most of us.” That she has been able to do. Seniors all around have been receiving gifts and support.
Minarets senior Daniel Speak has been adopted through this project and he described, "When I got 'adopted' it made feel as though there are people who care about us seniors not having a normal graduation. It’s a really cool thing that someone took on, so people get to know seniors around the mountain community and it was really cool getting in contact with new people that “adopted” you."
This project truly is bringing communities together and spreading cheer during these times of uncertainty.