Nearly 800 members of the Class of 2007 were welcomed to San
Benito High School on Friday by upperclassmen and the Associated
Student Body to help incoming students make the transition to high
school life and overcome some of the fears associated with the
large and sometimes intimidating campus.
Led by ASB and headed by Link Crew Commissioner Karla Rostran,
140 sophomore, junior and senior Link Crew members volunteered
their time to familiarize and welcome the newcomers during the
orientation.
Nearly 800 members of the Class of 2007 were welcomed to San Benito High School on Friday by upperclassmen and the Associated Student Body to help incoming students make the transition to high school life and overcome some of the fears associated with the large and sometimes intimidating campus.
Led by ASB and headed by Link Crew Commissioner Karla Rostran, 140 sophomore, junior and senior Link Crew members volunteered their time to familiarize and welcome the newcomers during the orientation.
“The basic purpose of freshman orientation along with Link Crew is to make the transition into SBHS smooth,” said ASB advisor Juan Robledo. “It also introduces them into the SBHS culture.”
According to Robledo, orientation teaches incoming students everything from where restrooms are located to what activities are available and what the school policies are.
This year’s event included slight modifications from previous orientations, including voting on Freshmen Reception Royalty, having a more organized curriculum and breaking into small groups at an earlier time than usual. Also, something that has never been done was introducing the freshmen class officers.
Usually, freshmen officers are appointed after interviews in mid-September, but this year they were appointed in early spring and introduced at the assembly.
This year’s freshmen officers are President Alan Guttirez, Vice President Justin Andrade, Commissioner Jason Andrade, Secretary Judy Sumida, Treasurer James Schafer, Special Projects Roxxane Davila, Historian Chelsea Fowles and Publicity officers Liza Smith, Kayla Ferriera and Matt Morrison.
“This year was one of the best years,” Robledo said. “All of the components fell into place and we remained on target.”
One of the major changes in the program was changing the time in which Link Crew leaders and their groups met and went into a classroom to get to know each other. In previous years, it followed the assembly. This year, the groups met two hours earlier.
“This year was much more organized compared to last year’s orientation,” said junior Brittany Lobb.
According to Robledo, participants in this year’s orientation were exposed to many things about SBHS and participation was “better than ever.”
Sara Rocha and Lisa Farotto, commissioners of academics, provided advice to the incoming students about how to succeed at the high school. Their tips included attending class regularly, staying focused, studying and completing their homework.
“Freshmen orientation is fun. We have games and our leaders gave us all little presents,” said Dulce Reynoso, who graduated from Marguerite Maze Middle School in June.
After attending the orientation, Reynoso plans on participating in Link Crew next year.
“This was cool because I was able to meet a lot of new people,” said incoming freshman Travis Kimes.
ASB officer and junior Mary VonUrff said, “There was a lot of enthusiasm this year, good attendance and my group wasn’t a bunch of punks. They were all in good moods.”
