Farewell tour: Harwood seniors return to elementary schools
June 18, 2025 | By Claire Pomer | CorrespondentHarwood seniors leave Warren Elementary School after their farewell visit on June 13. Photo by Claire Pomer
On their final day of school, Harwood Union’s graduating seniors toured the district’s elementary schools, kickstarting a new tradition.
Traveling in two school buses, the seniors stopped at all five elementary schools in Waitsfield, Warren, Fayston, Moretown and Brookside Primary in Waterbury, to answer questions from students, tour their old schools, and show up as role models.
“We’re going back to where it started and being honored through the district,” said Harwood Assistant Principal Jess Deane. “We’re being celebrated as leaders.”
At Moretown Elementary School, the seniors were greeted with an assembly and a slideshow celebrating the seniors who had graduated from Moretown in 2019.
“You may not know what graduation is,” Moretown Principal Kate Liptak told the elementary school students. “These kids have completed grades K-12 and now they get to choose what they get to do with the rest of their lives.”
Each former Moretown student was presented with a poster from current students as Liptak detailed their future plans. One student asked what a diploma was. Senior Jackson McKay responded, “It’s a paper that you get at graduation that says that you graduated.”
Another student asked, “Is it hard knowing that you’re leaving a school where you’ve been for a while?” Moretown graduate Elsie Pawul answered, “It depends on the person. It’s a little bittersweet for me, but it’s a good thing to move on.”
At Brookside Primary, the seniors were greeted in the bus loop by several of the third- and fourth-grade classes. Several students held signs for the seniors, and third-grade teacher Heather Morehouse had her students create posters for the graduating seniors that she had taught. The seniors then paraded through the school, where they were cheered on by all current Brookside students. After the parade, the seniors got to play on the school’s playground, and all Brookside graduates gathered in the treehouse to take a picture.
Brookside Primary School students greet school alums visiting their former school the day before they graduate from Harwood. Photo by Claire Pomer
At Waitsfield Elementary School, the seniors were greeted with another assembly and a slideshow celebrating the Waitsfield class of 2019.
“We are so happy for each and every one of you,” Waitsfield Principal Kaiya Korb told them. “You’re the big kids that we look up to in all sorts of ways.”
She invited a group of Waitsfield students to stand up and ask questions. Many of their questions revolved around elementary school, and what the seniors had cherished about their experience there, or what they wish they had gotten to do. One student asked, “How did you decide what you want to do after you graduate?” Seneca Whittingham, a Waitsfield graduate, said, “I didn’t decide right away. You’ll always have time to change your mind, but I looked at what I was passionate about and what made me excited.”
Another asked, “What’s something important that you learned in elementary school?” Zoe Blackman, another Waitsfield graduate, said, “When I was here, we had assemblies where we gave out awards for respect and kindness. Having that foundation was great, and it taught us how to be good friends and respectful students.”
At the Fayston School, the seniors were greeted in the bus loop by the elementary students. Only the Fayston graduates were allowed inside the school, and the rest of the seniors played with the elementary kids on the playground. The Fayston graduates toured the school, speaking with their old teachers. Erin Koch, a previous third- and fourth-grade teacher, handed them each printouts of compliments that they had written each other as part of an assignment in her class.
At the Warren School, the seniors lined the walls of the school’s auditorium as Heidi Ringer, a former grade 5/6 teacher retiring this year, introduced each Warren graduate. They were all gifted a Warren School hat and a scroll containing their sixth-grade graduation speech, pictures from their graduation slideshow, and pieces of their elementary school writing.
Each graduate shared one of their favorite memories from elementary school, along with their future plans. “One thing that I think this school does really well is that all of your teachers and mentors push you to try new things,” said Gavin Clark-Viola, citing an anecdote about how his teachers had encouraged him to start playing the clarinet. “You all should strive to get out of your comfort zone and do something new.”
This year’s senior tour is the start of what the school organizers hope will become a new tradition.
Harwood soon-to-be graduates who attended Brookside Primary School (when it was Thatcher Brook Primary School) visited on Friday, June 13, the day before graduation. Photo by Allison Conyers
Claire Pomer is a junior at Harwood Union High School.