Salem Academy Students Anticipate Family Weekend—But First, Senior Day And Ring Banquet

This is a fun-filled week on the campus of Salem Academy—a week filled with time-honored traditions and highly anticipated observances. The celebratory week began on Wednesday, September 21 with one of the most cherished occasions of the year at Salem Academy, Senior Day.

Senior Day kicked off early in the morning with seniors enjoying breakfast with faculty and staff in the Club Dining Room, while “marshals” (seniors choose several students from other grades to be their “marshals” for their senior year) decorated seniors’ cars and doors (and even a bicycle). Afterwards, students attended classes created and taught by seniors before and after lunch before capping off the afternoon with a Purple/Gold Scavenger Hunt, the presentation of the car decorating “awards” and the singing of the senior song.

Academy seniors also celebrated Ring Banquet on Thursday, September 22. Attended by current Academy students, faculty, staff and senior parents, Ring Banquet is a special ceremony where senior students receive their class rings. Members of the first-year class host the annual event by creating a theme and then decorating Bryant Hall. Toward the end of the event, the seniors have their names called to the event podium where they received their class rings from Head of School Kris Porazzi Sorrells.

A mainstay tradition at Salem Academy, Ring Banquet is an occasion when seniors are celebrated and recognized for their achievements at Salem Academy. The event is one of the earliest team building activities of the academic year, allowing first-year students to work together to facilitate and produce. The event helps with building leadership, teamwork and planning skills for students. After planning the event, the first-year students at Salem Academy look forward to their own senior Ring Banquet.

This special week at Salem Academy concludes with Family Weekend, which has a theme this year of “Life is Sweet.” Family Weekend begins on Friday, September 23 by welcoming families to campus in Babcock lounge, followed by a special family dinner and games. The day concludes with a late-day talent show outdoors in the May Dell.

Family Weekend continues on Saturday, September 24 with Assembly, a Cookie Break (of course) and family photos. The day also includes an academic/activities/art fair in Bryant Hall, campus tours and an optional downtown scavenger hunt. Family Weekend will conclude with a family/student/staff kickball game on the athletic fields. Following a final farewell, Salem Academy students return to campus life filled with memories of Family Weekend that will last a lifetime.