Link Crew is a tradition upperclassmen have done for many years to help the incoming freshmen. This program is something that students participated in after school and during their own time, but as of next year, it will be a class called “Senior Mentor.”

Link Crew is a mentorship that incoming and current freshman use to transition from middle school to high school. The program is continuing to grow with more and more upperclassmen wanting to do it to help their fellow students. With that, Link Leaders from this year requested that they have time during the school day to work with the current freshmen, and fortunately for them, the administration trusts the program to put it into the daily schedule. 

Link Leaders being there during the school day would be beneficial for the freshman since they and teacher Ms. Whitney Upshaw have noticed a few things. “We have also seen a need for more individualized support for ninth graders within the classroom, so leaders have signed up to work within subjects they excel in and provide small group and one-on-one support for the ninth graders they are paired with at orientation,” Upshaw said.

There are over 100 students that will be a part of the program next year. These students are or will be in extracurricular activities in and out of school such as clubs, sports, etc. With those activities going on, they decided it would be more important to be there for the freshman during the school day and not after since not everyone could be there after school. 

With that being put into place, teachers and students hope that they will feel more supported throughout the year.  Upshaw said the esupport will lead to improvements in, “Attendance, grades, school spirit, and participation in school-based programming and extracurriculars.”

As of right now, there are about 56 students who have expressed interest in this course that will be coming to school starting next year. Once next year starts with this new course added to schedules, “All leaders will attend monthly luncheons with their ninth-grade crews and host monthly social events like tailgates, dances, and other events to promote a sense of belonging for all ninth-graders,” said Ms. Upshaw