On Tuesday, April 22, Sidwell’s Upper and Middle School campus will host its annual Founder’s Day. As the Sidwell community comes together to celebrate the day the school was founded, Lower, Middle and Upper School students gather on the Upper School campus to partake in activities and traditions. These include a schoolwide Meeting for Worship, choral concerts from various grades, and snacks and lunch in the courtyard for students to enjoy. The activities, prepared by Upper School club leaders, give students time to connect with their peers from kindergarten through 12th grade while allowing clubs to showcase their interests to the wider Sidwell community.
For this year’s Founder’s Day, the Upper School clubs organized activities aligned with their clubs’ purpose. Leveling the Playing Field, a club striving to make sports equipment more accessible, will be setting up a donation box for people to donate used sports equipment. The club has run numerous events incorporating sports in the past, and continues to build enthusiasm around athletics this Founder’s Day.
Girls Rising in Technology Club will be making accessories for tech to spice up students’ devices, including phone charms and stickers. The STEM Club has also planned a variety of exciting activities. Madeleine Davant, a STEM Club head, explained their club is planning on running a table where participants can make ice cream from scratch. They believe this will allow the Lower School students to participate in a fun science experiment while also getting a delicious summer treat. To avoid chaos driven by Lower Schoolers on a sugar high, they are planning on getting numerous volunteers and making a ticket system with groups of 10 students teaching the kids.
Last year, the STEM club organized a slime-making stand, with over 300 students participating from a wide range of ages. Students were able to create and personalize their own slime with colors and accessories. This activity successfully combined fun with an educational and exciting science experiment. All grades were able to engage and participate in this activity, and the best part was that each student who participated left with a new fidget toy.
Some clubs will continue activities they have organized in previous years. Creative Writing Club plans to continue its tradition of a poster where students can write about their favorite SPICE using markers, sticky notes and other materials. They will also have a whiteboard where students each write one sentence, eventually creating a story.
FEAT and Sustainable Fashion Club will collaborate to run a used clothing swap, similar to last Founder’s Day, where students can get free, second-hand clothes. The week prior, they held a clothing drive across all three school divisions. Isabel Limão, a head of FEAT club, said the clothing swap is “a great way to declutter your closet and find new things you really like, and it’s good for the environment too since the clothing industry uses a lot of water and contributes significantly to global carbon emissions.” According to Limão, the clothing swap has been a big hit across grades in previous years, especially with Sidwell’s Lower School students.
Club activities can engage and connect students from all grades, and whether it is crafts, games, or community service, all students can find a club table that they are interested in. Davant added, “you’d be surprised how many 18-year-olds got just as excited as the four-year-olds at the prospect of customized slime.” Even faculty members get excited about what clubs have planned for Founder’s Day.
“[My favorite part of Founder’s Day is] working with all the clubs,” Equity, Justice and Community Administrative Assistant Kyla Starks said. “It’s super exciting to see the ideas they come up with and how they align with each club’s goals.”
Many club heads say they will miss the joy of Founder’s Day and the larger Sidwell community coming together after graduation. “It’s especially bittersweet to be hosting activities for our last Founder’s Day,” said senior Caroline Dupree, a head of the Creative Writing Club.
Junior Lindsay Neal spoke about her and her club’s Founder’s Day experience. “[S]ince we have all been members of this community since we were children, it is very nostalgic,” she said. Dupree said, “the best part about planning for Founder’s Day was hosting the meeting where we generated ideas for activities. Everyone had such amazing ideas, and it made us excited about the future of the club!”
Although Founder’s Day can seem overwhelming with so many people from the Sidwell community gathering at once, the club activities can bond students of all ages creating a more organized atmosphere and a more connected community. Club heads not only get to share what they are passionate about, but also get to meet new people from a pool of younger and older Sidwell students. The Sidwell administration also enjoys seeing the connection across the grades.
“You really get a feel for the Sidwell community as these students come together to plan and take on these roles, making Founder’s Day a memorable experience for the entire school,” Starks said.