Daniel Konstantinovic
Reporter
Senior Service Day has become a long-expected tradition amongst seniors at New Canaan High School since it began in 2000, but with its 14th iteration taking place tomorrow on May 28, the story of how this tradition began is lost to many students at the school today.
Senior Service Day began with the NCHS class of 2000, as the result of a senior prank. “The story goes that the senior class at the time engaged in a prank that caused serious damage to the school,” Assistant Principal Ari Rothman said. Seniors at the time engaged in personal attacks against teachers and killed a number of animals living in the school’s marine biology lab. “As a sort of full-class reparation for the prank, Senior Service Day was put together as a day of service for the community,” Mr. Rothman said.
The event was organized by then-head of the math department Nancy Dennin who had connections to The Edison School in Bridgeport. “We brought a busload of seniors to help out with Edison’s field day,” Mrs. Dennin said. “The students we brought were very overwhelmed and depressed by what they saw. The [Edison] kids played on cement and had no equipment. Compared to New Canaan you can imagine what it was like. The class made a donation of $1000 so we could bring some kids to New Canaan and give them a field day.”
The field day, which acted as the first ever Senior Service Day, was a raving success amongst both seniors and students from The Edison School and prompted the return of the event for following years. “Over time, the kindergartners who visited became 3rd graders and wanted to come back, so we extended it,” Mrs. Dennin said. “Then they were 5th graders and still cried for it, so we extended it even further. They hold it over the kids’ heads there and say ‘if you’re not good you won’t go to New Canaan!’”
New Canaan High School insisted on covering all costs of the event. “We set up a field day on the old soccer field and had face painting, water balloons, all sorts of fun things, but we payed for absolutely everything, ” Mrs. Dennin said. “The busses are actually the biggest expense.”
Though the school organizes the event, most of the work on the day itself falls upon that year’s seniors. “The senior class pays for all of it,” Mr. Rothman said. “It really becomes a school-wide effort with the seniors leading on the day. I think it’s nice for our kids to see what they can do for other people.”
Though the response from The Edison School is continuously positive, a major reason the event returns every year is because of the senior class’ response. “By the end of the day, our students were crying, the kids were crying on the bus home, and kids started writing essays about the experience,” Mrs. Dennin said. “Our kids got so much out of it just because of the look of joy in the eyes of the Bridgeport kids, so it became a tradition that we’d do this every year. It’s one of the most wonderful days in anybody’s life.”
“One year we had extra sandwiches and we noticed one kid stuffing some in his pockets. He got scared when we saw him and said, ‘I just wanted some food for my family.’ We were so touched and packed up everything we had in the kitchen for him,” Mrs. Dennin said of one of her most memorable senior service day experiences.
Despite seemingly being a staple of senior year, Senior Service day hasn’t always been guaranteed. “At some point there was a fear that The Edison School might close down, and that either Senior Service Day wouldn’t continue or we’d have to organize the event with another school,” Mr. Rothman said.
Mrs. Dennin also had concerns regarding the continuation of the event after she left New Canaan High School. “My biggest fear was that after I left, people wouldn’t have the passion for it,” she said. “You could call Edison and they would walk if we couldn’t get them a bus. That’s how much it means to them, but thankfully the school managed to keep it going to this day.”
“It just takes finding the right kind of people to do these things,” Mrs. Dennin said. “I may not have taught too many people math, but I taught them Senior Service Day, and that’s a legacy I’m very proud of.”
