Cheerful Helpers Alumni Association: Game Night

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When Arizona graduated from Cheerful Helpers 2 years ago, I felt like I was losing a limb. The community of staff, teachers and families carried me through some tumultuous years and not only changed my child’s life but mine as well.

I always knew I would stay connected to the school because I sit on the Board of Directors as a community member, but I was craving more integration into the current pulse of Cheerful Helpers. I also wanted to make sure Arizona and I could still see our friends : the beautiful families, both those who have moved on and those still enrolled in the school.

Luckily, it was around the same time that a few of us put our heads together to officially launch the Cheerful Helpers Alumni Association. We kicked off our first year with four events : beautification day, a winter read-a-long / sing-a-long, game night and a summer bbq.

This year, we have the same events planned and just wrapped our 2nd annual Alumni Game night. It was a blast!

Initially, as with most Cheerful Helpers activities since she graduated, Arizona was hesitant about attending. She’s a girl who looks at Cheerful Helpers as something she has moved on from. It’s hard for her to realize that she can be attending a new school, with new friends and still be connected to her old school and friends she met there.

As it turned out, Arizona agreed to come “for a little bit” but ended up having the best time and didn’t want to leave when it was time to go. All of the kids seemed to enjoy themselves; we took over the parlor and outside yard for various activities : board games, obstacle course, freeze tag and more. There were snacks and drinks throughout and we had a gluten free + vegan cookie decorating activity set up. We ended our day with a fun improv game for the kids, both alumni and current students along with siblings. They each took turns acting out a particular animal while the audience guessed what they were.

And, just because why not, we closed out the event with a resounding group rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

Cheerful Helpers is a huge part of the village that supports us, keeps us connected and builds us up together as a community. I continue to be grateful for this!