FRESH PERSPECTIVE

FRESH PERSPECTIVE
New students learn about 'Gansett, each other

News staff photo by REBECCA LEONARD Students play a team-building game during Freshmen Academy on Wednesday.

Rebecca Leonard
News Correspondent

TEMPLETON  This week, the freshmen at Narragansett Regional High School got to tour the building, follow a mock schedule and, ultimately, have fun before the first day of school during this year’s Freshman Academy.

“It gives them a chance to own their high school for a few days. You know, be the only ones here,” said Middle School Principal Peter Cushing.

Freshman Academy was created about six years ago, based off of a college presentation. It was designed to help incoming freshmen become more comfortable with their new surroundings and feel confident that they are ready for high school.

“This makes you feel better about coming into the high school,” explained Lily DeVarney, “I’ve met a lot of new people.”

Although Narragansett is a small school, it can still be frightening for freshmen to enter into a world where the kids are bigger and there’s more daunting classwork.

“Even though they’re basically moving down the hall from the middle school, it’s still intimidating being on this side of the school,” explained Mr. Cushing.

The four-day academy consists of different activities on different days. The first day consists of ice-breakers and games for each group to get know each other. The second day is solely focused on getting to know the school and the school grounds. A scavenger hunt and running a mock schedule assists the teams with these tasks. The third and fourth days include fun games on the football field and an administration question-and-answer session.

For the last few years, upperclassmen have volunteered to be team leaders for each group. This year, 50 students offered to be volunteers. Four to five volunteers were assigned to each group of freshmen.

“It helps us get used to getting up early again,” admitted sophomore Amber Eaton, “but it helps us and them to meet people you’ve never talked to before.”

News staff photo by REBECCA LEONARD Tyler Dill concentrates on not dropping his egg as he maneuvers through the Humpty Dumpty obstacle course on Wednesday.

The volunteers take each group and conduct various activities around the school. The upperclassmen act as guides throughout the school during the week.

Mr. Cushing explained that it helps the freshmen make friends with students who have already gone through the transition.

A lot of the volunteers are sophomores who remember Freshmen Academy last summer.

Javin Blanchard, a sophomore, said that he was new to the school last year and had no idea who anyone was. When he came to Freshman Academy, he met people with whom he’s still really close.

The new freshmen cheered each other on Wednesday morning as each group played team-building games.

Sophomore Marissa Marques and junior Brooke Pacheco agreed that the academy helps the students break out of their shell and get rid of the awkwardness of being new to the high school.

More than 80 out of about 100 students participated in this year’s Freshmen Academy. Mr. Cushing said that some days have more or less freshmen participating. It’s a flexible event because parents want to do beach days and spend time with their kids before the school year starts.

“The success of it really shows in the numbers. The first year we only had 46 kids and now we have most of the freshmen class,” said Mr. Cushing.