Sophomores attend orientation to transition into high school
By Stephanie Chang,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–
Sophomores gathered at the North Gym for orientation on Aug. 17 right before registration in order to get to know the school and make valuable connections.
“Transitions are the times that are most important to students lives, where decisions are made, patterns are established to ensure success,” said Bill Williams, who is in charge of the Link program. “ So that’s what we’re trying to do; ensure the success of our students.”
Orientation was led by Link leaders, who attended training for two days prior to orientation, where they learned the activities to do with sophomores. Link is an international program to help incoming freshmen transition into high school.
“I wanted to help incoming sophomores because i thought it was really beneficial for me coming into high school last year to get acclimated and accustomed to DHS,” junior Link Leader Nathan Kong said.
On the other hand, junior Cate Choquette decided to join Link Crew for a different reason.
“I wanted to see if I could teach incoming sophomores more about the school compared to what was taught by Link leaders I had when I first started,” Choquette said.
This year, around 550 sophomores attended orientation and a little under 100 Link leaders helped out.
Sophomores were first welcomed into the gym, split into groups and then taken to classrooms by Link leaders to go through a program to make connections with a small group of sophomores and the school.
“I thought orientation went really smoothly and there was a good sophomore turnout,” Kong said. “It’s important because it gives incoming students a chance to get experienced students’ advice on the ins and outs of high school.”
Similarly, Choquette thought orientation went well.
“Orientation was mostly successful because the sophomores got to see more of the campus on the tour,” Choquette said. “Orientation is important because it gives sophomores an opportunity to learn more about the school and how the teachers will be.”
Link Crew held a meeting on Aug. 25 to talk about how orientation went and how to continuously reach out to sophomores throughout the year to ensure their success.
