Last Friday, the Class of 2034 delightedly welcomed their fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other father figures to campus. Tables set up around the amphitheater waited for the students and their guests, laden with pumpkins ready to be decorated. Working together, the men and students transformed their pumpkins into cats, dragons, dinosaurs, and many other fun creatures.
Once they finished their activity, the men sipped on coffee, and everyone snacked on donuts. When it was time for their guests to leave, the students lined up to return to class, and the fathers went off to their workdays. After starting the day with quality time together, everyone was smiling as they headed into the remainder of the week!
Jackson Academy has enjoyed a reputation as an innovative school for many years. When the Lower School hosted their first Pumpkins with Pops event in 2016, words like “precious” were used to describe the event. “Innovative” would have been equally appropriate. Few programs are designed around recognizing and celebrating fathers and the father figures in children’s lives, and Lower School leaders wanted to change that. Six years and five events later, Pumpkins with Pops provides precious quality time for a kindergartner and the important men in their life.
