A Better Transition

It is the eighth grade students, the ones who lead all of the activities in the Bobcat 360 program, who truly make the sixth graders’ transition a positive experience. Beginning their seventh grade year, soon-to-be eighth graders willingly volunteer for the program and everything it entails—including a difficult selection process lead by Weir and her co-coordinator, Ricky Romero.

“We take between 40 and 50 of the seventh graders who apply,” explains Weir. The students go on to complete several days of equity and leadership training before finally meeting their sixth graders. Weir says that the eighth graders “see themselves as leaders and people who are responsible—we don’t have to teach them that they’re responsible, they just assume that role.” Holding themselves to the highest standard, these eighth graders make for the best kind of friends and role models that new students could ask for.

Neighboring the BVSD in location and ideology is the St. Vrain Valley School District. Their Link Crew program connects upperclassmen (Link Leaders) with groups of ninth graders to help them feel comfortable during their first year of high school.

Link Crew, run by the Boomerang Project, dedicates itself to ensure the transition is an encouraging one. Like 360, one of Link Crew’s primary goals is for students to feel connected to their new school, believing that if they can be made to feel this way, new students will be more involved with the school community.

Each summer, designated juniors and seniors at schools such as Skyline, Erie, and Longmont High, participate in leadership training days much like Angevine mentors.

These Link Leaders are given resources for how to best guide incoming students through the challenges they themselves experienced coming to high school. Next, freshmen are welcomed on day one of school at an assembly full of ice-breaker activities. A school tour follows, as well as time for each leader to spend with her or his small group, answering questions and bestowing upperclassman wisdom onto the ninth graders. (We’ve evolved past those shoved-inside-lockers days!)

Like 360, Link Crew continues beyond orientation. Link Leaders follow up with their assigned ninth graders periodically. Leaders visit the classrooms of first-year students, teaching them brief lessons that range from time management to peer pressure. Outside the classroom, some leaders spend time tutoring their ninth graders or calling them to check on how their year is going.

The level of participation among new students speaks for the influence these programs have on them. “They get involved right away,” noticed Weir, “in all of our clubs and activities—it’s crazy how many.” In fact, the high interest in Angevine’s sixth grade cooking club forced them to divide the group in two, and add another teacher. Similarly, among high schools like Longmont, Erie and Skyline, Link Crew has been tied to increased attendance rates in classes—a reflection of the sense of community students feel from a welcoming school environment.