Community turns to social media to support Owen High School seniors
‘Adopt a Senior’ Facebook group encourages support in unprecedented time
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
April 30, 2020
Owen High School senior Morgan Robinson, who was accepted into Appalachian State University, is one of many Swannanoa Valley seniors to be ‘adopted’ by a community member through the “Adopt a Senior 2020! Owen High School” Facebook group. Photo courtesy of Lee Robinson
Like many people confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, Savannah Williams was anxious to find a way to help others impacted by the crisis. Considering her husband Josh is the student pastor at Mountain View Church in Black Mountain, which ministers to youth in the community, it didn’t take long for her thoughts to turn to the Owen High School class of 2020.
“I wanted to figure out a way for the community to show our local seniors love in this depressing time,” said Savannah, who was inspired by a community-led Facebook initiative, in neighboring McDowell County, which encouraged support for seniors during an unprecedented time when the response to the contagion has forced the closure of public schools across the state, and beyond.
Within minutes, the Facebook group “Adopt a Senior 2020! Owen High School” was up and running. Two days later, hundreds of Swannanoa Valley community members were supporting the cause.
“Adopt a Senior” Facebook groups have become popular throughout the country in recent weeks, as many students set to graduate in the coming months are forced to conclude their high school careers virtually. The concept is a simple one, according to Savannah.
“The parent of the senior is responsible for approving and posting pictures of their child in the group,” she said. “We’ve encouraged them to post things that their child likes, whether it’s the college they plan to attend or their favorite sports teams or anything that gives an idea of who that particular senior is. Then, the community is invited to ‘adopt’ a senior and get them something special to recognize all of the hard work they’ve put in to get to this point.”
Jaylin Davidson is a hard worker who is excited about playing college football, according to the post on the Facebook group, “Adopt a Senior 2020! Owen High School.” The group offers community members the opportunity to support the class of 2020. Photo courtesy of Tony Shivers
Community interest in the Owen group representing many of the school’s nearly 160 seniors, was swift, as membership ballooned to 567 within the first five days of its creation, according to its creator.
“It’s been a huge positive response,” Savannah said. “It’s been shared on many other Facebook groups and people have been really eager to show their support for these seniors.”
That’s encouraging, according to Chelley Williams (no relation to Savannah), who attends Mountain View and became an administrator for the page shortly after learning about it.
“I’ve talked to a few of the seniors and they’re devastated that they may not get to walk across the stage or may not get a Senior Day and all of the other traditions they’re missing out on,” Chelley said. “We want them to know that this community is totally behind them; we’re proud of this class, and they’ve gone through so much because of this.”
Chelley, Savannah and page moderator Anika Harper work to assure that members of the page have a connection to the local community before approving requests to join. The trio maintains a directory that provides information on which seniors are in the Facebook group and who among those has been adopted.
Owen senior Maddie Propst, who was on the high school’s 2019-20 homecoming court, a member of the Beta Club and president of the Future Farmers of America, was sponsored by several members of the local community through the “Adopt a Senior 2020! Owen High School” Facebook group. The community-led initiative is designed to show support for local seniors whose final weeks of high school have been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of An Truong
“We only have about 60 more in the group who need to be adopted,” Chelley said. “We would like to see all of the participating seniors get adopted.”
There are no limitations on the number of group members allowed to adopt a single senior, according to Chelley.
“Gifts don’t need to be extravagant, just something special,” she said. “We really just want to show the seniors that we’re thinking of them right now.”