Student leaders joined EPCHS Principal Matt Dugan in handing out t-shirts to Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124 students in the Class of 2038. 

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Kindergartners at Evergreen Park Elementary Schools District 124 received special gifts from EPCHS High School Students.

During a two-week span in late October and early November, EPCHS student leaders, along with Principal Matt Dugan, visited the four Evergreen Park District 124 elementary schools to personally deliver t-shirts that read ‘EPCHS Future Mustangs – Class of 2038’ to all of the kindergarteners. 

This tradition began in 2011. Each year since, either Principal Dugan or his predecessor, Bill Sanderson, have asked the kindergarteners to save their shirts and show them when they cross the stage at their high school graduation.

“It was great to be able to take alumni back to their elementary schools while also meeting our Future Mustangs,” Dugan said. 

The EPCHS students who were chosen to hand out these t-shirts are alums of the elementary schools they visited. Not only did they attend these schools, but a few of them also received these same t-shirts with their graduating year back when they were in kindergarten. 

High school students who made trips back to their elementary school alma maters were: 

• Jade Alfano and Kylan Gonzalez visited Northeast Elementary School
• Jazmin Ayala and Faith Etapa visited Southwest Elementary School
• Saniya Peat and Saniah Richberg visited Southeast Elementary School
• Joshua Matheny and Maggie Troglia visited Northwest Elementary School

The elementary school visits were a blast for both the EPCHS students who visited and the kindergarteners alike. All the kids were ecstatic seeing all the older kids coming into their classrooms with gifts. They asked how high school is, shared that they have older siblings who go to high school, and guessed what year they will graduate high school. 

All the high schoolers took turns sharing their experiences at EPCHS, such as sharing information on all the amazing electives they have the opportunity to learn about. 

Before leaving the kindergarten classrooms, Dugan made the young students a big promise. He asked them to save their shirts until their senior year at EPCHS, and if they do he will buy them a batch of the famous, delicious cookies baked in the EPCHS cafeteria.