“Connected across the Divisions”: First Grade-Senior Buddies Program Returns for Second Year

Hampton Roads Academy’s oldest students joined some of its youngest on the afternoon of October 9 to continue a new but cherished Navigator tradition: the First Grade-Senior Buddies program.

Established during the 2024-2025 school year on the initiative of the senior class, led by Kate Lasley ’25 and Madeline Sablan ’25, the program aims to build enduring bonds between HRA’s Lower and Upper Schools by matching up our first graders with twelfth graders eager to promote their love of reading.

The current seniors’ initial meeting with the first graders marked the beginning of a yearlong partnership between the two cohorts. Each month, the seniors will visit their young buddies in their classrooms or in the Lower School Commons, where the first-grade teachers will be prepared with an age-appropriate book for one of their students to read for the group. The twelfth graders will come prepared with reading comprehension questions to facilitate the younger students’ learning.

More importantly, they will share their enthusiasm for the experience of bonding over a good book and show the first graders that they can always turn to their friends in the Upper School.

“Watching the children create this bond with an older student here on campus is so valuable,” said Director of Lower School Susanne Swain ’78. “It’s a great way to show how we are connected across the divisions.”

Forging New Friendships

Senior Buddies kicked off this year with the Class of 2026 visiting the first graders just before varsity football’s Lower School Night and the start of fall break. With an exchange of welcome cards, the seniors introduced themselves to the younger students, who were prepared with questions to spark conversation.

“I’m excited to get to know them and spend time with them,” said Lexi Trudeau ’26 after chatting with her first-grade buddies Collyns Hatchett ’37 and Sloan Jett ’37, with whom she instantly connected over their fondness for dogs.

The feeling was mutual. Collyns commented at the meet-and-greet that she was already excited to attend the Homecoming pep rally with Lexi the following week.

“Count me in!” Sloan said.

Many of the twelfth graders were amazed at how easily they connected with the first graders despite their age difference. “Even though they’re so young, they’ve got a lot of personality,” said Andrew Miller ’26.

Lana Reed ’26 agreed. “Seeing how open they were to getting to know us—I wasn’t expecting that,” she said. “They were all very outgoing, very fun, very easy to talk to.”

To commemorate their first meeting, photographs of the buddies getting acquainted will be assembled on a bulletin board in the Lower School. These snapshots will remind the youngsters of the bond they share with their new senior friends. As Swain observed, Lower School families also appreciate this display as a way to help them get to know the older students spending time with their children. “It makes them feel more connected to the program,” she said.

An Exciting Year Ahead

HRA’s Lower School team enthusiastically looks forward to seeing how the connection between their students and the seniors will grow over the course of the year.

As first-grade teacher Staci Lanier noted, the inaugural year of Senior Buddies set a high bar. The program, she said, “quickly became a favorite for our first graders, our seniors, and even our faculty. What started as a simple partnership to support reading and build comprehension has blossomed into something far more meaningful.”

In the months ahead, the first and twelfth graders will not only work together in the classroom, but also create shared memories, starting with the pep rally on Friday, October 17. Their bonding experiences will continue at special events throughout the year, like a holiday-time pajamas and hot cocoa party, a spring picnic, and the annual Lower School Basketball Night.

“One of the sweetest parts is watching the excitement on the first graders’ faces when they see their senior buddy—whether it’s during a classroom visit, a happy hallway encounter, or while cheering them on at a sporting event,” Lanier said. “Through the Senior Buddies program, our first graders gain confidence, strengthen their reading skills, and, most importantly, connect with new friends.”

A Strengthened Learning Community

If the tears in the eyes of last year’s seniors as their buddies sang “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” at their final assembly can be taken as any indication, the experience will be no less meaningful and fulfilling for the Class of 2026.

Director of College Counseling Elizabeth Cavallari, who advises the senior class along with Upper School government teacher Christopher Hailey, is excited for the Senior Buddies program to remind the twelfth graders “what it was like to be a first grader and have older students take an interest in you. How wonderful it is to get a note in the mail or in their classroom addressed just for them. And how special it is to have older students sit and want to read with them.”

“I haven’t been a first grader in a really long time,” said senior Gage Beach ’26, “so it’s a nice look back to see how I used to think then.”

Perhaps more importantly, as Assistant Head of School and Director of Upper School Ben Rous noted, the program will help the seniors hone critical leadership skills, as they are challenged to model citizenship, integrity, and kindness while “being watched by little eyes.”

In the process, the Senior Buddies program is sure to tighten the bonds of the school community as a whole. Swain hopes that the success of this young but vital HRA tradition will provide a springboard for the Lower School to explore future collaborations with the Middle School as well as the Upper School.

“Any program like this that goes across our divisions,” she said, deepens young students’ “sense of belonging” and “makes the school seem more connected and more like family.”