450 New Freshmen. 90 Minutes. Really?
It’s spring. In two weeks, 450 not-yet freshmen will enter our building for a District mandated visit. If it were a holiday, it would be New Freshman Day. The visit is only 90 minutes long, and we already have 2000 people in the building. Space is limited. So what’s the goal?
Like so many holidays that people make up, we will celebrate with the time and space that we are given. I found a website that lists some of the amazing things people celebrate. Before I roll out our plan for New Freshman Day, take a look at what people are celebrating during the first few days of May:
May 1st -
May 2nd
May 3rd
May 4th
Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you!)
May 5th
That’s a lot to celebrate! I didn’t know rhino’s had a day! And what’s up with May 3rd? Lumpy Rug Day?
In two weeks, we will celebrate New Freshman Day. Here are the objectives.
We can give new freshmen a sense of place, especially for those on their first visit.
We can enhance our culture by training 100 of our students to welcome the new freshmen.
We can communicate big picture ideas about high school. The theme is “Courage and Choices.”
We can show, through the stories of present high school students, that high school is more than homework.
We can provide a positive first experience for this next class of graduates.
The morning starts with the bus attack. Middle schools load school buses and travel across town to Washington High School. Two upperclassmen greet each bus before it unloads and courageously welcome students to our campus. The 8th graders are asked five easy and fun questions about Washington High School. Correct answers get a t-shirt. All other answers are rewarded with a piece of candy. Hey, it took courage to answer!
After the students are welcomed and quizzed, the students are dismissed from the bus to enter the building. We wind them through the building in what we call The Eighth Grade Parade. Teachers are emailed the parade route ahead of time and many teachers bring their students into the hallway to welcome the next graduating class. Students are asked to keep one foot against the wall as we have found the channel narrows without that directive. The energy is positive and many students enjoy seeing younger brothers and sisters or friends. It ends at the auditorium, and they file into their seats.
A student leader greets them and welcomes them to WHS. Our principal gives a short greeting.
This is followed by one of my favorite activities with the 8th graders. It’s call The Courage Game: Cultivating the Ability to Move from Here to There. Here’s the setup:
The 8th graders are seated in the auditorium.
WHS students stand at the ends of the rows.
Each WHS student has three pieces of candy.
As I stand before these 400+ freshmen, I say, “The most difficult task in high school is getting from here to there. It’s the journey from where you are to the meeting or club or sport that you want to join. It can be a scary journey, but that’s what courage is for. Courage is doing a good thing in the face of fear. Fear is required for something to be courageous.”
“In just a minute some of you are going to make a choice. Look at the number on your chair. (All chairs have small metal plates numbering each seat.) Look at the last digit. So if you are 15, you would be a five. I’m going to call two numbers. If one of those numbers is the last digit on your chair, you have the choice to stand up or stay seated. It’s up to you.”
“Three, you have the option to stand or stay seated.” Most students with a “3” as the last digit of their seat number stand.
“Some of you cheered. Why? Grateful it wasn’t you? Glad it was them?”
“Seven, you have the option to stand or stay seated.” Most with “7” now stand.
“Now you have another choice. In just a minute I’m going to ask you to leave your row. As you do, you will receive a candy bar. It may change where you end up today. Please sit down or go find another row to sit in. It’s up to you.”
Students move.
After everyone has moved and been seated, I have those that moved stand up. They are cheered for their courage.
“This is a critical skill in high school!”
After this activity, we prepare to split the freshmen into two large groups. Prior to the event I recruited about 100 students to help me lead it. Half are freshmen and half are 10th, 11th, and 12th graders.
At this point in the program, I dismiss those leaders to what we call our Commons, a center space for gatherings and where we have lunch. Forty-six pairs of leaders will meet there with the 200+ students in groups of eight.
With the 100 Washington students gone, I talk to the eighth graders about where they are going next. Half of them will move to the Commons and find a place at one of the marked tables.
I model how to walk with courage. Students who walk with fear run and push and generally look uncool. They should walk with courage.
I will talk through where they will exit at the end of the morning as this is the last time I will speak to the group as a whole.
I then dismiss the front half of the auditorium to the Commons.
In the Commons, the counselors facilitate this time. The week before the event, I met with students for a 30-minute training session to discuss how to talk to the eighth graders.
Here is their outline:
Introductions (30 seconds)
Your name
Year in school
Partner introduces themselves
From the below topics, each 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grader selects one question:
What was the best choice you made since coming to high school?
As a student, what would you do differently if you were to start high school over?
One of the activities I chose to do this year was . . . .
How did you get started?
How much time does it take?
Why did you enjoy doing it?
Students will have three minutes for both leaders to tell their stories. The time is tight, but this allows the event to keep moving.
After each three-minute presentation by the leadership pairs, I have a trumpet player sound a charge. When that happens everyone kind of smiles and the leaders move to their next table based on a map they were given. Once at the new table they make the presentation again.
For the half that remains in the auditorium, the theme of movement continues. I present, along with other Washington students, information on three different choices they will make in the next four months. After each presentation, students have a choice. If the student says “Yes” to the choice, they show that decision by moving to a new seat in the auditorium. With only half of the auditorium full, there are plenty of seats from which to choose. For this year’s group, they will have 20 seconds and then another 21 seconds to find a new seat. They are the class of 2021.
I talk briefly about integrity. If you move, you are declaring to the world that you are going to attend the talked about activity.
Here are the three choices:
CHOICE #1 – CONNECTIONS:LKJD:LKJDSKLJDSF:LKJDSF:LKJSDF:LKJDFSL:KJDFS:LKJDF:LKJDFF:LSDJF:LKSDJF:LKSJDF:LKSDJF:LKSDJF:LSDKJF
This is a summer transition program. About 20% of our freshmen go through this program. Click on the above link for an overview of the program. Students that are registered or thinking about registering for Connections move to a new seat in a new row.
CHOICE #2 – FRESHMAN ORIENTATION
We hold a freshman orientation about two weeks before school starts. We use Link Crew for our event. Their material is fantastic, and students respond well to the experience. Students who say “Yes” to attending Freshman Orientation move to a new seat in a new row.
CHOICE #3 – FACING THE FEAR OF THE LUNCH TRAY
One of the most fearful activities for new freshmen is lunch. I hold up a lunch tray and tell them this is nothing to fear. I call up 16 volunteers to sit at our lunch tables that are on the stage. They will run a relay that I explain to the eight boys and eight girls on the stage.
Step #1 - Grab a tray and walk 1/2 way across the stage. Face the audience. The 8th grader must lift their tray in the air and say “I am courageous!”
Step #2 - They go to a student volunteer posing as a Lunch Lady and receive a bag of marshmallows. They must say “Thank you” to the lunch lady.
Step #3 - They move to one of the two lunch tables that have been brought to the stage and sit down to eat their marshmallows.
After they sit down, the next person does the same thing. One of the middle school teachers judges each table. The teacher raises their hand as soon as all marshmallows from all eight students are gone from the table and fully swallowed.
The champions are crowned and return to their seats.
I close with the Lunch Tray Pledge that creates a common experience for this class that has gathered for the first time. It is done somewhat in jest and I have a good time with it.
All rise and raise your right hand:
As the class of 2021
We do promise
To give courage to each other
Especially when near a lunch tray.
The students in the Commons then switch with the students in the auditorium and each activity is repeated.
When both groups have completed the two activities, we point them to their buses, and they head back to their respective middle schools.
Here’s what we hope they are thinking about as they ride the bus back to school:
Hundreds of students lining the hallways and cheering their arrival.
They heard about courage.
They watched courageous 8th graders participate in activities.
They talked to flourishing freshmen, who were in middle school just last year.
They heard great stories about what students are doing right now in high school.
They sat with students who look a lot like adults or at least grown up.
They heard about a great summer program called Connections.
They heard about Freshman Orientation.
They took The Lunch Tray Pledge.
Many stepped up and had their first success in high school.
Many received a t-shirt.
All were encouraged and welcomed to a high school that will soon be their new home.