Woman launches senior group

A local woman recently launched a Quay County Adopt-a-Senior group on social media to recognize area high-school seniors whose final academic year was drastically altered because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Amanda Conway, a rural Tucumcari resident whose niece, Julianna Garcia, is slated to graduate this spring from Logan High School, said she created the Facebook group April 3, a couple of weeks after New Mexico Public Education Department called off classes for the rest of the school year due to the virus and transitioned to learn-at-home models.

On the page, parents or family members can post photographs and accomplishments of seniors who will graduate from Tucumcari, Logan, San Jon and Grady. (House does not have a senior in its high school this year.)

“It’s a way for the seniors to feel special after their senior year was basically taken away by COVID,” Conway said in a phone interview.

People become members of the page by invitation only. Conway and fellow group members can approve requests to join.

In short order, Quay County Adopt-a-Senior had drawn more than 300 members, with dozens of seniors adopted. If family members feel comfortable with it, they can list the senior’s mailing address there so he or she can receive congratulatory gifts.

Conway said she was pleasantly surprised by the group’s rapid growth.

“I was a little shocked,” she said. “I didn’t think it was going to get that big that fast.”

Conway said she thought of listing her niece on another adopt-a-senior group on Facebook but backed away when she saw it contained more than 13,000 members.

“It was just too big for our small community,” she said. “I wasn’t comfortable giving my seniors’ info to strangers.”

The group can be found at https://www.facebook.com/groups/668185423994874/