The Legacy of Lifers: A Heartfelt Tradition

One of the most endearing and heartfelt traditions that Hamden Hall engages in is its Lifers' Shirting Ceremony due to the intrinsic community-building element. This yearly ritual truly encompasses the entire school community as it celebrates seniors who have spent their entire academic careers under the pines and does so at an all-school assembly as coordinated by the Early Childhood classes.

The Class of 2018 includes eight lifers – Marissa Consiglio, Maisa Della Valle, Christopher Izzo, Max Sinoway, and Moustafa Wazaz, all of whom started in PreKindergarten; and Christopher Duffy, Krishnan Moran, and Joseph Neubauer, who have been here since Kindergarten.

“I couldn't be more proud of our Class of 2018 lifers. I've known seven of them for 13 or 14 years – and one for his entire life! They are all highly motivated individuals and well-rounded students. They epitomize Hamden Hall's core values of Excellence, Support, Participation, Accountability, and Respect,” said Head of School Bob Izzo.

The Lifer distinction heralds back to 1982 when then-PreKindergarten teacher Kathie Harris came up with a marketing idea for the annual Valentine Bake Sale – yet another longstanding tradition at Hamden Hall that dates back to 1942. That inaugural year, the Kindergarten and connecting classes held a candy and bake sale to benefit the Junior Red Cross. At that time, all purchases were made with pennies so that the younger students could manage the sales. A 1969 issue of Scholastic Teacher Magazine touted the tradition because of the inherent life lessons in areas of economics, business, human relations, teamwork, and consumer education. “They also learn self-discipline as they are not allowed to sample the cookies,” the magazine stated.

Mrs. Harris created T-shirts that called attention to the bake sale and had the younger students “shirt” those Upper Schoolers who had attended Hamden Hall since their PreK and K days. In turn, the Lifers would sport the walking advertisements for the day and encourage their fellow classmates to buy cookies at the bake sale.

“The children drew cookies with their names on them and we had them printed on the shirts,” explained Mrs. Harris. “It was a fun way to celebrate love and family in addition to being a learning experience.”

The custom continues today with the Early Childhood classes designing the graphics for the T-shirts. Then, on the Friday prior to Valentine’s Day, an all-school assembly gathers to witness the official “shirting.” Students in PreKindergarten and Kindergarten line up behind the Lifers and don them with their new tops – decorated this year via tie-dye!

Early Childhood Director Catelin Fee, a 2004 alumna, came up with the tie-dye idea and said that a total of 83 T-shirts were created by PreSchoolers, PreKindergartners, Kindergartners, and faculty members.

“We wanted the kids to have a hand at creating their own shirt. We used pink, purple and red - valentine colors. We used squeeze bottles and swirled the colors around. It was a joint effort,” she explained.