By Al Stover 

Link Leaders Program begins at Lind-Ritzville High School

 

Last updated 8/31/2017 at Noon

RACHEL SCHELL, sporting her purple Link Crew Leader T-shirt, leads a group of freshmen and new students on a campus tour of Lind-Ritzville High School on the first day of school, Aug. 28. -Journal photo by Al Stover

A student’s first year in high school can be a tough transition, especially in the first several weeks.

While new students are adjusting to their classes and homework, they are also learning their school’s rules and policies, and meeting their teachers and classmates.

This year, Lind-Ritzville High School began implementing the Link Crew program, which will help freshmen and transfer students transition into life at a new school.

Developed by the Boomerang Project, Link Crew is a high school orientation and transition program that helps freshmen and new students feel comfortable during the first year of their high school experience.

According to the Boomerang Project’s website, students who have a positive experience in their first year of high school have a higher chance for success. The program provides a structure for students to receive support and guidance from coordinators and Link Crew Leaders.

Comprised of juniors and seniors, Link Crew Leaders have experienced the challenges of high school, and understand the transition to a larger or new school can sometimes be overwhelming for new students.

Through the Link Crew program, new students learn their classmates, teachers and school administration care about them and want to see them succeed. Link Crew Leaders also experience increased self-esteem and overall character development while they are helping their fellow students.

The program also provides schools with a structure in which students make real connections with one another, increasing school safety, as well as reducing bullying through anti-bullying education.

The coordinators for LRHS’ Link Crew program are Principal Ronanda Liberty and Spanish Teacher Kathy McAnally.

Liberty said she became certified in The Boomerang Project’s middle school mentoring transition program and Link Crew when she was principal of Grand Coulee Dam middle school and high school.

When she became the LRHS principal in 2016, Liberty wanted to bring the Link Crew program to the campus.

LRHS’ Link Crew Leaders are made up of 12 upperclassmen who had to apply for a leadership position in the program.

Liberty said was looking for leaders who wanted to connect with other students. Each finalist completed two days of what Liberty called “intense training” in order to be ready for the first day of school.

Link Crew Leaders had to experience the program through the eyes of a new student. They also had to review and familiarize themselves with the Link Crew Leader aspect of the program.

Among the group of 12 leaders are students who are involved in different sports, academic clubs and other school activities.

“Any student who walks through the door can connect with a leader,” Liberty said.

Senior Rachel Schell is one of the school’s Link Crew Leaders. Schell, who is the LRHS Associated Student Body Vice President said she believed joining the program would help her develop leadership skills. Being involved in the program has also helped her build friendships with new students.

“I feel like I would have liked this when I was a freshman,” Schell said of the program. “It’s nice to help them.”

On the first day of school, freshmen and new students attended a morning assembly in the Gilson Gym.

The students met Liberty and McAnally, then engaged in some ice breaker activities with the coordinators and their assigned Link Crew Leaders.

After having lunch with their groups, Link Crew Lead led them on a campus tour.

Tilla Mathiesen, an exchange student from Norway, was one of the students in Schell’s group. Mathiesen, who is a senior, said having Link Crew Leaders show her around LRHS was a “nice way to start” the school year.

Like Schell, Mathiesen said she would have liked to have a program like Link Crew when she transitioned schools in Norway

Link Crew Leaders will conduct structured classroom visits with their groups to help them with their academic success and character development.

Leaders will also meet with their classmates outside of school in a group setting and individually.

Schell said she and the other leaders want to help new students become involved with school, as well as take them to sporting events and help them with their studies.

 

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