About nine hours before members of the Niles High School Class of 2015 were set to graduate, they received words of advice from an unexpected source.

Kindergarteners.

About a dozen of them read a short piece of life advice in front of the seniors during graduation practice Thursday morning in the high school gym.

Their words ranged from humorous to heartfelt.

“Go to college,” said one kindergartener.

“Get a job,” said another.

One kindergartener told the seniors to be good to their roommates in college.

Another reminded them to “brush their teeth.”

One particularly thoughtful young student told the seniors that he like and loved them.

“It might be some of the best advice you will get,” said Eastside Principal Joe Racht.

The advice session was a culmination of a yearlong mentoring program pairing seniors with kindergarteners at Niles Community Schools. The “senior buddies” initiative started about four years ago as a way to create community among all students, according to Northside Principal Zech Hoyt.

“We thought we’d start with our littlest ones and our biggest ones and develop that relationship,” he said. “The seniors can give back and our youngest ones can look at them as role models.”

Shortly after the “kinders” gave their advice, the seniors received handmade cards full of encouraging words from the little friends they had been mentoring all year.

“The kindergarteners love the seniors and the seniors enjoy the experience,” Hoyt said. “Some have said they’ll go into teaching because of the joy they found working with the little people.”