Last weekend, grandparents found themselves back in the classrooms, going to classes alongside their grandchildren as part of Grandparents Day. Over 300 grandparents flocked to campus Saturday to experience a portion of a typical day in the life of Phillips Academy students. Over the past four years, attendance at Grandparents Day has risen, and this year, being the day’s 25th anniversary, brought even more attendees, wrote Sandy Butters, Director of Parent Giving, in an email to The Phillipian. Grandparents attended third and fourth period classes. According to Butters, 325 grandparents registered on Saturday, although others just went straight to classes. Christopher Shaw, Instructor in History and Social Sciences, taught an alternative class for those grandparents whose grandchildren did not have class that day. After classes, grandparents were able to enjoy a variety of different activities including home sporting events, lunch in Uncommons, a reception at the Addison, and various presentations in the library. Thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous grandparent couple, the grandparents each received a tote bag and tie, displaying images of Andover Alice Tung, Assistant Director of Alumni and Parent Giving, wrote that the couple donated the money in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Grandparent Fund. The Grandparent Fund was established in 1983, and to date almost $1 million has been donated to the fund. Since its founding, the number of grandparent donors has risen from six to 201. John Robinson, co-Chair of the Grandparent Fund, also presented a check worth $114,110 to Head of School Barbara Chase, a collection of all the money raised by grandparents this year. Overall, Tung thought that the weekend was a success. “We heard from happy grandparents and their families how much they enjoyed the weekend,” she said.
