As our Seahawks soar into the school year, we welcome 39 new students into our community. However, many of them may be familiar faces, as 11 are siblings of another Seabury student. New and returning students alike reflect one the experience of attending school with their sibling, noting its many joys and occasional challenges.
Regarding her experience with seeing her sister Hayden in the halls, freshman Bailey Sparks says, “It kind of catches you off guard when you see your younger sister in the hallway, in the same place you were, but it’s pretty good … I definitely helped her [learn about Seabury] a lot. She was asking me all these questions, and I just told her.”
Eighth grader Savannah Mizer shares a similar perspective on her role in her sister Sloane’s adjustment to Seabury, saying, “I kind of told her what was gonna happen and told her about her teachers and everything. Obviously, I didn’t know all of sixth grade because I wasn’t here for it, but I feel like I kind of knew what to expect and what to tell her.” However, Mizer admits that there are some things that she leaves her sister to figure out on her own: “She keeps telling me about her Secret Seahawk and expecting me to know, and I’m like, ‘I have no idea who your Secret Seahawk is,’” she says.
New students seem to agree that a sibling’s perspective smooths out the transition to a new school. Sixth grader Torin Kalbas appreciates his brother Zeke’s expertise on Seabury traditions, saying “From the first year, he’s kind of explained everything to me, like throughout his experience, and that’s why I know so much about it… He’s gotten me excited for Headmaster’s Holiday [and] just the school in general, [like] the lunches, the food truck festival, just every event at the school.”
Sixth grader Marie Henderson also notes that previous visits to the school have shined some light on the student experience, saying, “I kind of knew about the school because I went to see my sister in volleyball games … We both really like volleyball and piano.”
Henderson sisters Lily and Marie are not the only Seahawk siblings that share passions, both within school and out. Kalbas also reflects on mutual interests with his brother, saying, “We both really enjoy soccer. We both do soccer at Seabury. We’re both interested in theatre; that was actually his fault, [since] he made me interested because of last year’s play.” Asked about the experience of both being Seabury soccer players, he says, “It’s nice [because] we’re both at the Seabury practices. Typically, he’s at the high school, [and] I’m at the middle school practice. Last week, he actually came over to the middle school practice and scrimmaged with us for a bit … He’s a really good player.”
Eighth grader Thomas Cici also anticipates a shared extracurricular with his brother George, saying, “I think this year, we’re going to do lights and sound for the play together, and we may end up doing other things together … It’ll certainly be interesting.”
Academic interests are also an area of unity between many Seahawk siblings. Mizer says of her sister, “She likes Dr. Lady Asher’s, which I really like [as well, and] also, I think we both like Ms. Barclay as a teacher. She’s really fun and nice.”
In regards to how the sibling relationship differs between school and home environments, Kalbas offers his perspective: “At home, siblings fight, but we still love each other, and I don’t think there’s any siblings who don’t fight at home, but at school, it’s more of a professional relationship. Whenever we run into each other in the hallway, we’ll be like, ‘Hey, how are you doing, how [are] classes?’ So it’s very different,” he says.
Cici also observes a contrast in school versus home personality, albeit a slightly different one: “[My brother and I] get along pretty well at home, and he’s a little crazier at school, but I think we get along pretty well at both places,” he says.
Asked to summarize the shared school experience, our Seahawk siblings seem to agree that it is positive. Henderson says, “I like it because we can both be here and see each other in the halls.”
Sparks begrudgingly agrees, saying, “It’s fun to see [my sister] in the hallways; I hate to say it, but it’s pretty fun.”
While there are many ways for Seahawks to take flight, it’s clear that our Seabury siblings sport many similar feathers.
