With the help of Souderton’s Link Crew, the incoming freshman class of 2027 were able to have a smoother transition from the middle school to the high school.
According to Link Crew advisor Bre Dickerson, the upperclassmen act as role models to the incoming freshmen to make them feel less intimidated in the high school environment.
“We are upperclassmen students who are helping to mentor freshmen that are coming to the high school,” Dickerson said.
Freshmen orientation, which took place on August 25, involved the incoming freshmen being guided around the high school by their Link Crew leaders.
“Our Link Crew members [took] our freshmen on a very basic tour of the high school of the very basic things that they need to know for where in the high school it is,” Dickerson said.
For many students, starting high school can be both an exciting and nerve racking experience.
“I was a little nervous,” freshman Levi Yoder said.
Yoder said he had a difficult time trying to navigate the high school compared to the middle school.
According to Yoder, the hallways at the high school all look the same, almost like they are “copied” and “pasted” throughout the building.
Freshman Jimmy Talarico had similar feelings to Yoder and was a little nervous to start high school because, “the high school is kind of intimidating and the school is much bigger.”
Talarico found freshman orientation and the Link Crew leaders to be very helpful because “they told us what to expect throughout the year, and with them just talking through all the things that are going to happen in the year really helped.”
Dickerson shared a similar outlook.
“I feel like they [felt] better on that first, second and third day of school, because they came for freshman orientation and they remember the route now,” Dickerson said. “I feel like it’s very imperative for our incoming freshmen to feel like they are wanted here and that they are welcomed here.”
According to Yoder, he was able to find his classes easier on the first day of school.
He felt more comfortable knowing that he had seen the layout of the building prior to the first day of school as opposed to walking in the morning of and not knowing where anything was.
Along with freshmen orientation, Link Crew also hosted the freshman mixer on May 15 at the high school. Eighth graders, from both Indian Crest and Indian Valley Middle Schools attended.
Dickerson’s favorite part of being part of Link Crew is the freshmen mixer because, “students are coming together to realize that they’re coming from two different schools, but we’re joining together at the high school.”
According to Talarico, because the mixer was a combination of students from Valley and students from Crest, it was easier for him to make friends and socialize.
“I made a lot more friends this year than I did while I was at middle school because I knew most of the people there,” Talarico said. “Now at the high school, there’s people here I [don’t] know.”
