The Community School of Davidson (CSD) has a tradition of having a senior snack at some point near the halfway mark of the academic calendar. Although this tradition has been happening for the past several years, the email with the news announcing the senior snack table appearing on Learning Street is often overlooked.
So it came as a total surprise for the Class of ‘25 students when the table appeared shortly after Thanksgiving break as a way to set the mood for the important three week period leading up to winter break.
On November 25, 2024, parent volunteers and other Class of ‘25 relatives decorated a table on Learning Street with balloons and a sign enticing each and every senior to enter their name to collect their own small bags of treats.
The bags themselves were special. There were small plastic bags filled with Hershey Kisses paired with a colorful stress ball. Stapled to the bags were small slips of paper with encouraging messages.
“I love that it brings the seniors together and I feel like it really creates a community,” Sadie Strickland (‘25) said.
Karen Shelton, parent of CSD senior, Conner Shelton (‘25), was one of the volunteers who put in a lot of hard work to make the senior snack possible. From filling bags with Hershey Kisses to stapling them shut with encouraging notes, Karen Shelton dedicated her time and energy towards making the seniors’ halfway mark of the school year special.
“We chose to do a halfway there [snack] because seniors have worked so hard for the first half of the year with school, athletics, essays, auditions, applications, dual enrollment, jobs, next steps, etc.,” Karen Shelton said. “We wanted to start the excitement early and show our love for them and encourage them to keep working hard. It’s a fun tradition to spoil the seniors.”
Not only did the snack hit the sweetness and kindness mark, it also created a bit of an unintended outcome. While some seniors squeezed and shared the balls, others enjoyed it so much that they started throwing the stress balls up in the air, consequently resulting in a maze of stress balls stuck on the ceiling. And upon descent, popped stress balls with the colorful beads covered the floor.
When a kind gesture comes with an intended goal, it is often the unexpected that creates the most lasting memory of memories. The very site of flying stress balls had everyone watching bursting out in laughter.
It seems the stresses of being a senior, from classes to college applications and so much more, were replaced with smiles thanks to flying stress balls and a senior snack that raised spirits.
