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Annaleigha Hernandez

It takes a village to organize an event like the Freshmen orientation. The Link Crew leaders, seen here in front of the new Yogi Tunnel, were a village more than up to the task.

Colton, CA—It is definitely a challenge being a Freshman, going from being top of the food chain in middle school to low person on the totem pole in high school. To prepare this year’s eighth grade students at Colton Middle and Joe Baca Middle for their rite of passage into high school this fall, Colton High’s ASB and Link Crew joined forces to coordinate an incoming Freshmen orientation.

On April 11 and 12, students from Colton Middle and Joe Baca Middle toured the campus, guided by Colton Link Crew students to a number of classrooms to learn more about the expectations of high school.

Michael Esquivel, Link Crew adviser, believes events like these are essential for students. “I think it’s super important for these kids to come see the campus, to get a tour, to meet the principal—all the admin team, the counselors—just to see all the quote-unquote important people on campus they are going to be dealing with the next four years.”

The middle school students arrived at 8:30 a.m. each morning outside the Hubbs Gym where they would check in and participate in an orientation assembly held by Link Crew representatives. During the assembly, Esquivel introduced students to the principal, administration, head counselor, athletic director, and Wellness Center coordinator, as well as the school policies and PBIS vision, “Be Respectful. Be Responsible. Act with Integrity.”

At 9:15 a.m. Link Crew leaders took their tour groups to a variety of classrooms across campus representing several subjects and grade levels. At the start of the day, students toured Ms. Leyva’s AP English classroom to take part in group discussions about AP language prompts. Others toured Ms. Contreras’ AVID class, Ms. Geraldo’s GIS course, Mr. Meza’s auto shop, Mr. Barta’s metal shop, Ms. Kelley’s physical therapy class, and more.

One Joe Baca student shared about how intimidating the new campus was. “I thought campus was very big compared to middle school. I liked the HEAL class a lot.”

After class visits, the middle school students returned to the Hubbs Gym for lunch and activities with the Link Crew group leaders. The Link Crew leaders ran students through activities similar to those used during schoolwide Synergy. During 5th period, ASB arrived and held a small pep rally to teach the incoming Freshmen their class chant—”Twen-ty-six! Twen-ty-six!”—as well as introducing them to the drumline, cheer squad, and Yogi.

The day ended with a Club Rush, in which the middle school students entered the courtyard outside Memorial Stadium to learn more about the various organizations, clubs, and sports teams at Colton High. The new Yellowjacket tunnel was inflated, and Yogi hanged around to take photos with future Yellowjackets. The football team even challenged students to do pushups for bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

With next year coming sooner than later, several students seemed to be nervous about the upcoming transition, but that is to be expected. “I’m scared,” future freshman Jocelyn Ornelas said. “But my cousins go here, so I’m good.”