Students from kindergarten to high school sent heart-felt messages of love and appreciation to their grandparents at special chapels on November 25 as grandparents watched online, unable to attend this popular annual school event in person due to required health and safety protocols related to the coronavirus.
Elementary Principal Gail Alford and Upper School Principal Meg McHale opened the two chapel programs with prayer and thanked the grandparents for their love and for being involved in the lives of their grandchildren. Mrs. McHale noted that the Bible speaks of the important relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, quoting from Proverbs 17:6, which says: “Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”
A musical program followed, with performances by the kindergarten classes and the Middle School Worship Team. Students in the Middle School sign language class signed to the fitting Josh Groban song “You Raise Me Up” as a collage of photos of ACS grandparents appeared behind them on a video screen.
The featured speaker was Carlo Lenzi, grandfather to 7th grader Gianna Flynn and 6th grader Mackenzie Flynn, and father of ACS Business Administrator Kelly Flynn. Mr. Lenzi traveled from his home state of New York to give an uplifting message to the students about how special they are in God’s eyes and in the eyes of their grandparents. Mr. Lenzi’s career has been in restaurant and event management and he is the senior sales director at American Golf in Brooklyn.
“What’s important in life is not the amount of likes you have on Facebook,” Mr. Lenzi said. “It’s important to know who you are — that you are a child of God and you have special gifts and a calling on your life.” Lenzi also encouraged the students to appreciate their grandparents and the sacrifices that many of them made to create a better life for their children and grandchildren. “Right now, life is difficult with wearing masks and being sequestered and many of you are separated from your grandparents and loved ones, but we’ll get through this and we’ll be back together again soon.”
Mr. Lenzi also had fun with the students showing off a variety of popular toys, games, and candy that he and other grandparents enjoyed when they were children back in the 1970s, like slinkies, silly putty, and the hula hoop. He even tried taking a short ride on a skateboard. High school senior Sydney Pearson closed the chapels in prayer.
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video of the Grandparents Day program.
CLICK HERE to view a photo gallery of the Grandparents Day chapel.