By Suzanne Schmidt
Making the transition from eighth-grader to freshman can make or break a high school career. It is the time when most students struggle with fitting in and finding their way.
Sunlake High School in Land O’ Lakes and Wesley Chapel High School both had special orientations recently so freshmen could learn success strategies, expected behaviors and academic items such as the meaning of a grade point average.
“There is so much data out there that states if they don’t succeed in their first year of high school, then they will forget it,” said Pam Willoughby, a media specialist at Wesley Chapel and one of the planners for Wildcat Pride, held Aug. 3. “They feel like they will never be able to catch up and they drop out when they are 16. It is tough going from being the big fish at middle school to being the little fish at high school.”
Garry Walthal, principal of Sunlake, agrees with Willoughby.
“The freshman class is the class I lose the most sleep over,” said Walthal, whose school hosted a similar event last month. “It is such an important transition from middle school to high school. The socialization process is huge. These students are no longer being escorted to and from everywhere. We are hoping the orientation will reduce the stress and anxiety because it can be overwhelming to be a freshman.”
Instead of letting students walk in and feel lost on the first day, Willoughby said she is hoping the students will be able to feel comfortable.
“We are hoping if we let them know we care about them, that they will feel more comfortable asking for help if they need it,” Willoughby said. “We are challenging them to start together and finish together. We hope they will have a sense of unity.”
Pack Leaders — 36 seniors and two juniors —served as peer mentors for the incoming students.
“They spent two days learning peer mediation and what a leader is,” Willoughby said. “They learned qualities they should model to the younger students. They will also be helping teachers. They are going to put in classes where their subjects are the strongest.”
Ryan Vandenlangenberg said he wanted to become a pack leader so he could help incoming freshmen.
“When I was a freshman, I had a senior as my best friend,” Vandenlangenberg said. “He helped to point me in the right direction. He taught me to complete all my work so that I don’t have to repeat any classes.”
The school also changed how it assigns students to guidance counselors and assistant principals in the school. Patti Taylor is the new guidance counselor for the freshman class. She taught a session about academic goals, study skills, what credits are and grade point average.
“We want them to start off on the right track,” Taylor said. “There is more than one way to get a high school diploma and not everyone will take the same track. I am hoping that after today they will understand that they have a support system here.”
Drama teacher Sean Gaudette and some of his students used theater to explain how to act and not act in high school. Some of the topics the students learned about were peer pressure, clubs and activities, school rules and the consequences of breaking them.
“Peer pressure is when someone tries to get you to do something you wouldn’t normally do,” Gaudette said. “Following peer pressure in high school has more consequences. You are able to make more individual choices. With increased liberty comes increased responsibility. In high school, teachers expect you to be more like adults and less like children. We are not trying to be cruel; we are just preparing you for the rest of your life.”
Cierra Robinson, 14, will be a freshman next year. She said she learned a lot from the skits.
“I think that high school is going to be an amazing and life-changing experience,” Robinson said. “I learned that I don’t have to change myself to fit in.”
Gary Cohen, senior at the school, helped to make the videos for the freshman orientation because he said he wants to help.
“The best thing about us doing these videos is that we all have this experience,” Cohen said. “If I would have had guidance like this my freshman year, I think things would have gone a lot smoother.”
Last year Carin Nettles did not know she would become the principal of Wesley Chapel High School. Before leaving Mitchell High School she had the same type of orientation at the school called Mustang Academy. After that program, Nettles said “A” grades went up 10 percent in the first quarter and ninth-grade disciplinary incidents dropped 37 percent.
“We wanted to teach them what they should expect,” Nettles said. “I was passionate about getting the project started at Mitchell. We had less time to set it up than I had before so we had to really focus on what our goals and expectations were. It is nice because we have older students who want to be a leader and want to help. It means more coming from the fellow students then it would coming from a teacher.”
The orientation at Sunlake was July 29 at the school where students learned strategies for success. Students were also able to pick up their class schedules, buy their physical education uniforms and pick their lockers.
“We are hoping to see increased student achievement and higher student success from the orientation,” Walthal said. “We are also hoping for improved behavior. If we can get the student early then we might be able to decrease the drop out rate and increase the graduation rate. We are also hoping this will get more kids into the advanced courses.”
Walthal said he was hoping to address the main reasons why kids drop out so he would see more graduate at the end of their four years.
“The data shows a sense of feeling like they don’t belong is the main reason why kids drop out,” Walthal said. “Also if students feel bored they will drop out. We had so many people show up and such a positive experience, that we are definitely doing it again next year.”
Students attended several sessions throughout the day where they learned strategies for success, basic college preparation skills and goal setting.
“We helped them to get to know the high school,” Walthal said. “Now that they are freshman, they need to set academic and career goals for themselves. They need to figure out whether they want to go to college or go into a career right out of high school.”
Students also learned about bullying.
“They need to be able to communicate with their peers,” Walthal said. “We taught them the kinder, gentler approach. Also if issues do arise, we taught them to speak with the appropriate staff member.”
Pasco County School Calendar
Pasco County schools resume classes on Monday, Aug. 16. Here is the board-approved calendar for the academic year.
Aug. 16 First day of class
Sept. 6 Labor Day
Oct. 18 Teaching planning day
Nov. 11 Veterans Day
Nov. 24-26 Thanksgiving break
Dec. 23-Jan. 6 Winter break
Jan. 7 Teacher planning day
Jan. 17 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Feb. 21 Presidents Day
March 14-18 Spring break
March 21 Teacher planning day
April 29 Non-student/teacher day
May 30 Memorial day
June 1 Students’ last day
