A Day of Hugs and Laughter: Grandparents' Day 2026 - Issue 7

 

“It was especially lovely to watch our students proudly show their grandparents around campus and share their school experiences,” said Junior School Principal Carolyn Andrews. One moment that stood out was seeing Junior School students show off their lockers to their grandparents.

To start the afternoon, grandparents and students gathered in the Fountain Performing Arts Centre for a showcase of student talent. Students offered a sneak peek at this year’s Senior School musical, “Freaky Friday,” and the Grade 11/12 Band performed two songs. Kevin Lakes’ Grade 6 class recited William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus,” with Quinn MacDonell ’33 delivering the poem’s famous final lines.

Prarthana Rammohanprabhu ’29 then shared her speech, “The Importance of Grandparents.” She described being raised by her grandparents in India before moving to Canada, asked every grandparent and grandchild in the theatre to stop and cherish the moment, and closed by speaking lovingly in Tamil to her own grandparents, half a world away.

While Prarthana’s own grandparents were not there to hear her moving speech, you could feel the love and see the emotion across the Theatre. For faculty and staff in the audience, her speech offered a reminder of the strength of our community and the importance of offering students a home away from home. We’d love to have grandparents with us every day, but the reality is that we are more than a school; we are a family.

Following the performances in the Theatre, everyone headed to the Ted Canavan Athletics Centre for tea and refreshments. It was fun to watch families line up to take a photo in the photo booth with props. Each family was able to take home a photo strip keepsake to remember the day.

I would like to offer a huge thank you, on behalf of the Community Relations Team, to everyone who helped out with Grandparents’ Day last week! With so many moving parts, and with it being the last day of classes before a well-deserved break, things can become very chaotic. I appreciate everyone’s flexibility in making this special event happen.

In particular, thank you to Karlee Sinclair, Kevin Simonar, Kevin Lakes, Toven MacLean, James Skafte, and Pat LePoidevin, who all led amazing groups of students in their various activities. The Arts Department is endlessly flexible in offering class space and time, as well as performers, and I could not be more grateful. To the entire Maintenance Team, Chartwells Cafeteria Team, and Housekeeping Team, please know that we appreciate you tremendously. Without those two groups, we would not be able to do even half of what we do on campus.

Morgaine Sullivan
Community Relations Team