The upperclassmen leaders in Link Crew have one of the most important jobs in school: to help freshmen students get used to high school life. As a result, Link Crew is responsible for running numerous events dedicated towards helping freshmen students, among which include Freshmen Orientation. This year though, Link Crew has undergone a change and is now hosting a number of intermediary events such as Freshmen movie night and Freshmen circles. 

“With the adviser trainings that Ms. Acosta, Ms. Smith, and Mrs. Rushing participated in, we learned that Link Crew is a year-long commitment for Link Leaders. Therefore, we prioritize having year-long events that our leaders facilitate to provide maximum connection with Freshmen,” Ms. Smith said. 

These events have received generally positive reactions from the freshmen students participating in them. In Link Crew’s first community circle of the year, leaders gathered their freshmen and asked a variety of questions that would help them share any problems or stresses from high school. “I was able to communicate with my Link Crew Leaders and get rid of some high school pressure from the community circle. I also liked how they gave popsicles at the end because I haven’t had that type of popsicle in years now,” Ava Newton, 9, said. Despite Freshmen Movie Night’s low attendance, the freshmen who attended the event also found it to be an enjoyable experience as well. However, unfortunately due to some technical difficulties, freshman movie night was cut short.

For the future, Link Crew is planning on organizing a number of different events, in order to establish greater connections with freshmen. “We are planning for a community circle in late October, partnering with ASB for the new student lunch mixer in November to support our freshmen new to San Marino as a well as our other new SMHS students, and a fun Trick or Treat event for Freshmen during lunch on Halloween,” Ms. Smith said.