On Sunday, October 3, the Ben Porat Yosef graduating class of 2020 got together at their alma mater for their long-awaited alumni reunion, which was previously cancelled due to several COVID quarantines and lockdowns. The former students, who are now high school sophomores, had a delicious lunch catered by The Humble Toast and participated in fun activities at the gaming truck that came to the BPY campus. The alumni met with Rabbi Zucker who welcomed them back to school, shared his memories of their class and discussed with them their accomplishments in high school so far, making everyone at BPY so proud of their amazing progress! The graduates, most of whom got into their first-choice high school, have been thriving at their respective schools and returned to BPY, not only to look back and reflect, but to also discuss how to inspire future students who are about to embark on the high school application and admissions process, giving them guidance from their own success.
The friends, some of whom had not seen each other in a long time, enjoyed reuniting and reminiscing about the great times they had together, while making new memories on Sunday with activities throughout the day. Each student received a cute tote bag as a memento from their planned eighth grade Washington DC trip that, unfortunately, never came to pass.
One of the truly important and significant projects of the day was when the alumni wrote letters to current BPY students who are in sixth through eighth grade, entitled “What I wish I could have told myself in Middle School.” By sharing their words of wisdom, the high school sophomores encouraged BPY middle schoolers to “Study! It might be annoying in the moment, but it pays off!”;“Be kind” and “Don’t stress—be respectful in class”—all valuable life lessons they felt it was important to impart as mentors to a younger generation of BPY students.
The alumni event demonstrated to the graduates that they may have moved on to high school, but they are not forgotten at BPY, and that is an important message for current students of BPY as well. Their voices, thoughts and feelings still matter, and they will always be valuable to the BPY family, even as they continue their progress in the broader Jewish community. BPY was so thrilled to have them back and look forward to seeing everyone again at future alumni events!
