To start their journey as high schoolers, the Class of 2029 was welcomed to Liberty with Freshman Orientation on Friday, August 15, Link Crew hosted the annual event from 9-11 a.m.
The first students started showing up around 8:30 and were welcomed by members of Link Crew clapping them in. They were directed to the tables in the back of the main gym to get their name tags. This continued until around 9:10 a.m. once most students had arrived.
“I like helping the freshman around the school, getting to know the school, and making them feel comfortable,” Jude Bill (12) said.
To start off the day, Izabella Signaigo (12), Lydia Davis (11), Ellie Simon (11), and Ellie Force (11) welcomed the students to orientation.
“I think they weren’t expecting as much as they were, because a lot of them are surprised whenever we play games,” Signaigo said. “They’re also surprised when they find out that we have such a caring principal that’s also not afraid the call them out.”
To begin the activities, students were told to come down from the bleachers and go to the other side of the gym. They then played a game of Agree or Disagree with questions like, “is a hot dog a sandwich?” After Agree or Disagree, students went back to the bleachers before eight of them were chosen for the next game. Four boys and four girls were chosen to play Hungry Hungry Hippo. The winning group got to choose a piece of Liberty apparel to take home with them. All the students then were put into groups where they had to line themselves up in order from tallest to shortest and by their birthdays without talking.
After all the games were done, the students were split into groups based on the number on their name tag. The number on the name tags represent your nest time group, so every group did multiple activities to get the students familiar with each other. They did multiple games as groups such as one where you had to walk across a “bridge” coming home from school. The “bridge” was made of paper and certain pieces were safe and others were turtles, and you couldn’t step on the turtle or you had to restart.
“My favorite part was being with my friends,” Blake Shepherd (9) said. “My least favorite part was probably doing the puzzles.”
Around 10:40 a.m., all groups started their tours of the school. The Link Crew leaders in each group the their students around the school and through the hallways, telling them where certain things were around the school.
Once all groups were done with their tours and were back in the gym, Dr. Nelson gave his speech to the students about Liberty and the school year. After Nelson’s speech, students were aloud to leave.
“My favorite part was probably just them reassuring us on all of it and giving us tips for high school,” Lucy Davis-Srp (9) said.
