By Ivie Drogin ‘25, Arts and Entertainment Editor

Class of ‘24 Chocolate Slide

If you ask any Newark Academy senior, one of the best feelings in life is repeatedly face-planting on a blue tarp while tripping over fellow classmates, before sprinting barefoot around the concession stand with one shared mission: to tackle underclassmen. Oh, all the while covered head to toe in chocolate syrup.

Any student at NA will tell you that the senior chocolate slide is one of the highlights of their year. It is arguably NA’s best tradition, happening annually on the first Friday of the school year at the Back-to-School BBQ. 

The famous tradition didn’t start with chocolate, though. According to Director of Upper School Student Life Ms. Galvin, the first “chocolate slide” was actually done in the late 90s with spaghetti and marinara sauce. After spending hours picking up spaghetti in the cold, she says they went to an option “that would melt.” And thus the chocolate slide was born, with chocolate this time. 

School Council President Jamie Shen ‘24 and Senior Class President Kieri Keys ‘24, both “NA lifers,” have been dreaming about the chocolate slide since they were in the sixth grade. Jamie “personally went to two Costcos” to ensure that the chocolate slide would be a success. After being bystanders of the tradition seven times, the two have finalized their chasing strategies.

While the slide is all fun and games, it serves a bigger purpose for the NA community. The Back-to-School BBQ is the first event of the year, bringing together the entire school for a relaxing event celebrating the senior class –minus the 10 minutes of chocolate slide chaos. For the seniors, it is both an emotional and physical bonding experience, connecting the whole grade from the very first week of their last year at NA. Their “senior initiation” kicks off a year of community and belonging, two pillars of the Newark Academy experience.

Thanks to a thunderstorm, the chocolate slide was in jeopardy this year. In talking with many seniors, it was clear they were extremely disappointed that the tradition couldn’t happen on the day it was scheduled, and were nervous that the slide would not happen at all. However, it was rescheduled to the following Thursday and was a success on a beautiful fall day. Instead of the usual schedule of soccer game, chocolate slide, then football game, this year it was chocolate slide, soccer game, then football game. Unfortunately for the Middle School students, the slide took place at 2:30 p.m., meaning they could not participate as it fell during Middle School sports. However, the slide still achieved its purpose of promoting tight-knit connections among the students, at least in the Upper School. 

So, for those who have not yet experienced a chocolate slide, it is one of the best school experiences you can have. There is no other school event that builds community and connection quite like hundreds of high schoolers huddled together covered in chocolate syrup. It is one of Newark Academy’s most loved and anticipated traditions that is unquestionably unique. Finally, don’t make the same mistake as Kieri at her first chocolate slide: don’t wear white.