On Monday, February 9, and Tuesday, February 10, the fathers and special friends of all the Academy high school students were invited to come have lunch on campus.

Jennifer Brown in the Advancement Office is in charge of planning the father-daughter lunches. She said they have been a tradition at the Academy for the past five years, allowing dads to connect with their daughters and see the campus.

Sophomore Isa Crimmen enjoys when her dad joins her for lunch at school. “I don’t usually get to hang out with him during the day because he always has work.” It is nice when the dads take time out of their days to eat with their daughters.

Due to this school year being the first with two separate lunch periods, Brown says from an administrative perspective, it requires a little more detailed directions for dads. 

Brown says it’s great to teach the high schoolers about taking responsibility for their scheduling and working with their parents to do that. Having different lunchtimes hasn’t affected attendance at all, but it does require the students to communicate directly with their parents.

“What I do like about it is that it gets the dad and the daughter talking. They have to ask their daughter which lunch they are in, putting more responsibility in the students’ hands” said Brown. 

The event doesn’t require too much intensive planning, once the date and time is shared the lunch runs itself. Dads bring their own lunch for daughters and will occasionally purchase something to eat from Sage.

Junior Virginia Dreisbach loves when her dad comes to father-daughter lunch because it allows her to spend time with him that she normally wouldn’t. “I enjoy introducing him to my friends and having a meal from my favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-A.”

Brown says her favorite part of the event is going down to the Brady Center and seeing the dads waiting for their daughters to find them. Catching them smiling and eating together makes the experience worth it.

Senior Abby Doyle enjoyed her final father-daughter lunch with her dad. They enjoyed food from SoFresh and had fun dining with Senior Cate Cathey and her father. 

“It is always great catching up with them, and the dads are so funny,” said Doyle.