“Do I have to get an i.d. card?”
“Yeah.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then you can’t check out books.”
“If I don’t check out books, I don’t have to do homework, right?”
The genius of this conversation with an incoming freshmen at
Chaparral High School is, it wasn’t a teacher rolling his eyes in response, it was
fellow student, Rachel Ptacek, a junior who volunteered to be part of LINK Crew. By using
returning students to introduce new students, Chaparral has succeeded in bringing
ownership and pride to upperclassmen, as well as an orientation for its freshmen and new
students.
Chaparral is the only high school in Southwest County to adopt the
LINK program used by schools across the country. Staff and administrators appreciate how
it connects new students, but as a parent who has had both a new student and a LINK Crew
member, I am most impressed with what it does for returning students.
Kayla Sigmon, 17, volunteered for a second time this year to give
back what she received as a freshman. “I went to a private school all junior
high,” Kayla recalled. “I was going to go to a different school [than CHS] but
my Mom said to try it out for a week. I really think LINK crew is the reason I stayed
because I felt I belonged. I would walk down the hall and my LINK leader would say hi
– not just hi -- she would say my name too and then it wasn’t just
‘hi’, she was my friend.” Kayla said four years later, they are still
friends.
Upperclassmen edge their comfort zones preparing for the daylong
event. They are asked to call their groups ahead of time to introduce themselves and give
reminders and information as well as answer any questions. The format is detailed and is
great training for dealing with people: “Try a minimum of 5 times before leaving a
detailed message on a machine. (We want to be personable.)”
An effort is made to recruit crew members from different groups at
the high school and they lead the get to know you games. Brandon Snider, 17, said,
“It was fun speaking to [my group] for the first time and hopefully befriend them. To
let them know that no matter what happens, they will always know someone here, even if
they don’t have many friends. My group was all boys. When we started playing the
games, they didn’t really want to, but with an older kid doing it, they did.”
This week, all week, LINK Crew members will be wearing identifying
t-shirts so freshman can spot them. LINK member Scott Stack, 16, said, “It’s
cool because I remember before I came in as a freshman, I thought I was going to get trash
canned or made fun of because I was new at the school and didn’t know how to act.
LINK Crew is good because it shows the freshmen that upperclassmen are not cruel, but are
there to help.”