Students wandered the school adorned in their extracurricular shirts, showing the incoming freshman class what the school has to offer. The eyes of the Class of 2022 widened as they poured into the school auditorium, with their guardians filling the seats to the point of standing room only. The tension over switching schools is high, and students arrived to ease their nerves and learn about what the school has to offer.
“I feel like this [event] is going to make me more comfortable with the school and help me feel less nervous,” incoming freshman Rebecca Schuster said. “I’m glad because we have more freedom and options [for electives] here [than] we did in middle school.”
Upon their arrival at the school, the Class of 2022 received a pamphlet outlining the different elective courses they would get the opportunity to visit during the orientation. After a detailed presentation from Principal Wendy Doll explaining graduation requirements, online classes and the block schedule, students were released to attend the first workshop of their choosing. As the crowd filed out, Principal Doll reminded them to listen carefully in each session to ensure that they could make an informed decision.
“It is always helpful when you gain information that will help you make a more informed decision,” Principal Doll said. “Make sure that to take courses that match your ability and work ethic.”
With over 15 workshop choices and only three sessions, students scurried around the school in search of the room numbers on the papers provided. One of the more crowded sessions was the Speech and Debate presentation. There, students learned that, despite the misleading name, there are actually more speech events than there are debate events that they can compete in.
“It is always helpful when you gain information that will help you make a more informed decision,” Principal Doll said. “Make sure that to take courses that match your ability and work ethic.”
“I hope that [the incoming freshman] take that the names of each club are kind of misleading in terms of what each club is actually about,” Debate Vice President of Operations Shaina Kaye said. “There is a lot more than [what is in] the name that each club actually has to give.”
At the night’s end, the eighth graders had taken the first step in their journey at CCHS. Having started building their academic profiles students left the school they were left to deliberate which courses were right for them for their first of many years at CCHS.
“I hope that in the time they spend here they gain a good strong academic background that prepares them for wherever they are going,” Principal Doll said. “I hope that they have good memories from the classes and extracurriculars that they partake in.”
Photo by Sarah Khan
