On Aug. 5, Aragon held its first in-person orientation for incoming freshmen, while simultaneously holding Jumpstart Day for the upperclassmen.
Leading up to orientation day, Aragon’s administration team, leadership classes and Link Crew leaders worked to create a welcoming environment to raise excitement and school spirit for the upcoming school year by planning group games and presentations.
“Orientation has been really fun and energetic, and I love the school spirit”
Keith Hawkins, an inspirational speaker who presented at orientation, placed heavy emphasis on maintaining a positive mindset and creating a sense of belonging within the student body.
“[Link Crew leaders] want to make sure that every freshman here knows that they are not just a number in high school, but they are someone who matters,” Hawkins said. “We want them to understand that you do not need to be like everyone else, you just need to live your true self. It is part of the mentality for [Link Crew], and we want the students to understand our purpose and why we are here today.”
Along with Link Crew’s activity plans, Aragon’s leadership students prepared for the event by creating posters and decorations throughout the week which can be seen all over campus.
“[Leadership] got here a bit early to set up all of the food and create the signs,” said senior leadership student Julia Jeck. “Our position has been working hard to make the school a nice setting for the kids.”
Upon arrival, incoming students were given the opportunity to meet their Link Crew leaders, form connections with their new classmates through a series of bonding activities and participate in a center-court line dance. These activities, paired with colorful posters, music and snacks, were intended to help smooth the transition from middle school to high school for the new underclassmen.
“Orientation has been really fun and energetic, and I love the school spirit,” said freshman Lola Lewis. “We have done a bunch of fun team building games, which definitely made me feel more comfortable being [at Aragon].”
Other attendees, such as freshman Markus Gosch, seemed to share similar thoughts on the experience.
“Orientation has shown how friendly the school community is,” Gosch said. “That makes me very excited and less nervous than I was before.”
Meanwhile, as orientation took place for the underclassmen, a handful of rising juniors and seniors participated in Jumpstart Day to prepare for the upcoming school year. Returning students had their school ID pictures taken and were also given their schedules for the fall semester. Additionally, chromebooks were distributed to every student, which is a new addition that differs from prior Jumpstart Days.
“Returning to campus was fun because I got to catch up with many of my friends that I have not seen over the past year and a half,” said senior Matthew Kang. “It felt very similar to the first day of school nervousness, but I was excited to see everyone again.”
Aragon’s assistant principal Juan Flores, enjoyed seeing the Aragon community’s hard work over these past few days.
“We’re very happy and excited to provide this for students who haven’t been on campus,” Flores said. “Everyone that I see coming here – staff, community, students, you name it — you can see the gleam in their eyes. We’re happy to be fully committed to bringing excellence back to Aragon.”
