Lisa Conley, a guidance counselor, organized the event after receiving requests from parents and to help keep pace with what other towns are doing. Ms. Conley said, “there is research that says the better acclimated a student can get to the high school, the more invested they are going to be in school, and in activities, and in making friends;” so, it was a unanimous decision that having a freshmen orientation would be beneficial.

The orientation was supposed to take place on August 29 including a barbeque and an activities fair, which would allow the Freshmen to have a chance to bond with their classmates and become more familiar with different sports and clubs the school offers. However, orientation was postponed to August 31 because of the hurricane. The lack of time to prepare for the new orientation date led the guidance counselors to let the activities fair and barbeque go. Freshman Allie Morris said, “It would have been really fun to have the barbeque,” but nevertheless the orientation still helped the students become more comfortable with their transfer to high school.

Despite the short notice that orientation was back on, there was an excellent turn out. Out of the reporting homerooms, 225 students out of 250 were present. Most students were looking forward to the event and were happy it was rescheduled because they felt it was a big help.  Freshman Mary Hinton said, “Getting to go through our schedules was really good since we got to find our classes and see who is in them.”  Meeting many teachers and staff in advance, without the added stress of a real school day with upperclassmen in the halls, was a good way for the Freshmen to feel more relaxed for their first day.

The success of the first orientation almost guarantees that Freshmen Orientation will become an annual event, hopefully with the barbeque and activity fair included next year.