This year marks a bright future for Williamsport Area High School as it introduces a national program designed to help freshmen with an easier transition into high school life. This year, Link Crew was brought to the high school and led by 9th-grade principal Mr. Veldhuis and former 9th-grade honors teacher Mrs. Reeder. Due to their involvement with WAHS freshmen, they pulled together members of the National Honor Society to form a group of upperclassmen who could use their knowledge of high school life and their own personal experiences at WAHS to help guide the freshmen through their first day.
On August 18 and 19, around 70 Link Crew leaders took time out of their summer to come to the high school for two days of training from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. There, Link Crew leaders did many of the activities the freshmen would be doing to familiarize themselves with them and understand what their freshmen group would be doing and how they might be feeling while doing it. On top of this, a small group of Link Crew leaders came together to help create and design the posters that would be hung up to help the freshmen find their group.
On August 25, it finally came time for the Link Crew leaders to put their training to the test as they and their partner were now entrusted with managing a small group of around 10 freshmen largely on their own. The day started with an assembly from Mr. Veldhuis, where freshmen and Link Crew leaders participated in quick exercises to make sure everyone was awake and learned a bit more about their freshmen peers before they were split off into groups. Once the groups were formed, two Link leaders to around 10 freshmen, each group went off to their own classroom where Link leaders led their freshmen through fun, simple activities meant to symbolize the different struggles that come with high school life and to help them build new connections with their classmates. After this, the freshmen were taken on a tour of the school and finally had a last assembly before having to start their school day and learning how to navigate to each of their classes. Some Link Crew leaders stuck around to help freshmen navigate the large high school campus and familiarize themselves with their classes’ locations.
When asked to comment about Link Crew, Mr. Veldhuis commented: “So Link Crew is a national program that I heard about, and when I got hired, my bosses said this is something we would like for the high school. Ninth-grade transition is the hardest transition in high school globally; it always is, so anything we can do to make that transition easier for the students is a win. It is high energy, but it doesn’t just serve our freshmen, but it serves our upperclassmen as well. It gives them leadership opportunities, exposes them to what it’s like to lead others, and what it’s like to work with people who maybe aren’t their favorite. It puts them in situations that may be challenging, but we know that they’re trained and empowered to handle them. So it’s a win-win for both our freshmen and upperclassmen. And overall, I hope our upperclassmen realize they can speak to the culture of our school by leading by example, empowering our freshmen, demonstrating what we have to offer, and hopefully speaking to their lives so they can continue to make this place positive.”
