The 2021-2022 school year started on August 19 for Childress schools, but the Childress Police Department is already underway with their “Adopt-a-Senior” program. Elizabeth Gamboa, administrative assistant to the chief, is in the process of gathering forms from current seniors so officers and community members alike can learn which senior they will get to “adopt.”

The “Adopt-a-Senior” program works by having each student in the senior class fill out a form that asks questions about what their favorite things are (drinks, snack, chip, restaurant, etc) and even their plans after high school. Once all the forms are submitted, an officer or community volunteer is assigned a student and uses the questionnaire to buy them a gift. They can buy their student small gifts throughout the year or one big one at graduation; it is up to each volunteer to decide what they want to do. The gifts are given to show the students that their community is proud of them accomplishing the goal of graduating high school.

Gamboa said that community members in the past have volunteered to “adopt” multiple seniors in case there aren’t enough people to cover them all, but that problem has never occurred as so many volunteers are eager to support and celebrate these students. Volunteers are randomly assigned a student and each year they happily support whichever one they receive. Gamboa also said that the officers are excited about the program and are constantly talking about it and new ideas to include in the future.

The “Adopt-a-Senior” program started after Childress High School student Bailey Bradley started “Adopt-a-Cop” as her Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) project. As part of the project, gifts were brought to the Department of Public Safety office, the sheriff’s station and the Childress Police Department. Feeling gratitude from this experience, the officers decided they wanted to pay it forward and started their “Adopt-a-Senior” program. 

The first “Adopt-a-Senior” came at the perfect time, as the class of 2020 was the inaugural class that received gifts. Gamboa said that those seniors missed so much due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, so it was nice to give them some kind of gift to help them celebrate. After the positive impact of the first year, the Childress Police Department decided to make “Adopt-a-Senior” an annual tradition and is now gearing up for their third senior class to celebrate.

The class of 2022 can return their questionnaire forms to Elizabeth Gamboa at her email. There is no set deadline to have forms in, but the sooner they are turned in, the sooner officers and volunteers can be assigned a senior to “adopt.”