With over 1,300 people, 550 of them grandparents, Benilde-St. Margaret’s hosted one the largest Grandparents’ Days ever on October 10. As with last year’s Grandparents’ Day, only students with grandparents in attendance were allowed to participate in the activities. “The change was made basically because we have no more space,” said Mr. Jeremiah, “[Grandparents’ Day] has grown so large that we no longer can accommodate all of the students and their grandparents.”

This system has been looked upon quite favorably by students: “I like this format a lot,” said sophomore Thomas Egger, whose grandparents attended, “It was smaller and easier to get around than before.”

Like the students, the grandparents also enjoyed Grandparents Day’. “Grandparents loved it,” said Mr. Jeremiah, “They loved being here in the school, they loved seeing their grandkids, and I think that they look forward to [Grandparents’ Day] every year.”

“My Grandparents really liked it,” said junior J.D. Quinby. “They said that it was really nice and put together well.”

Grandparents’ Day was originally celebrated during the Homecoming Week liturgy, but was eventually given its own service several years ago due to the growing number of people in attendance. According to Mr. Jeremiah, the purpose of Grandparents’ Day is to “honor our grandparents and really appreciate our heritage.”

Grandparents’ Day was put together by the Advancement Department, which is in charge of the “fundraising, admissions, and marketing campaigns of BSM,” said Libby Nickel, an Advancement Department Assistant. They invite the grandparents and take care of all of the basic components, but are by no means the only people who organize Grandparents’ Day. The Taher Staff and the transportation office are just two of the other groups that help to make Grandparents’ Day run smoothly.

This year’s celebration had one key change. Students who did not have grandparents with them were allowed to come to school at 9 a.m., rather than the usual 8 a.m. According to Mr. Jeremiah, the late start was put in place to alleviate problems with parking: “Having a late start really helped this problem,” said Mr. Jeremiah.

Many students responded favorably to this late start: “I liked Grandparents’ Day a lot,” said junior Kirby Ahlm, who did not have grandparents in attendance. “I got to sleep in.”

Overall, Mr. Jeremiah says that this year’s Grandparents’ day was a “positive experience,” and he looks forward to next year’s being just as good.