Student council prepares for first freshmen social
Monthly event planned to help boost school spirit, foster relationships
Using gumdrops as tokens, freshmen were able to engage in a variety of activities for this year’s Freshman Orientation. Teachers Jessica Kelly and Laura Penrod hosted dozens of incoming freshmen and discussed several topics to bolster their beginnings as a high school student. “I think they enjoyed the time we had together, it went well,” Penrod said.
August 31, 2022
To help boost school spirit and create relationships, Student Council will hold the first monthly Freshman Social on Thursday in the gym from 2-4 p.m. A different club sponsor will plan a unique activity for the attendees for each event.
“One of our goals this year and to rebuild school spirit and community. We are trying to create a new event for freshmen to know each other,” Student Council adviser Michael Woxland said. “I’m hoping for a couple hundred people to show up so that they can get to know each other a little bit better. we need to build back that Southwest community and spirit.”
Various “backyard” games and snacks will be available for freshmen, including Jenga, Connect 4, and Cornhole.
“I expect to have a lot of fun, relax, meet more people, and see my friends. I don’t really have anything to fear from coming to this social other than getting hurt,” freshman Devlin Crews said. “Overall, I hope it will be fun.”
A two-day freshmen orientation was held over the summer to help the freshmen with the move from middle to high school.
“I thought that it was insightful for freshmen to have tour of the campus and have the knowledge first thing before they arrive at Southwest. It provided them a lot of things to know — being engaged and being a freshman, being excited to be a freshman,” teacher Laura Penrod said. “I think the majority of freshmen seemed appreciative, they got to do team-building activities, meet people, and connect.”
Teachers can also take advantage of the opportunity to get to know their own students and Student Council members.
“I want to get to know the kids,” Class of 2026 adviser Benjamin LaCombe said. “I haven’t even met with kids in StuCo or the freshman class. This is the very beginning of the school year and I’m brand new with StuCo, so trying to find time to work with StuCo is hard.”
The now monthly event will be sponsored by various clubs for the rest of the year. Dungeons and Dragons/Fashion Club will co-sponsor the next event.
“Everybody can bring something unique to the table, and that’s the fun thing about this event,” Woxland said. “It doesn’t have to be the same thing every time, and different clubs and organizations have a lot of great ideas and different perspectives. It’ll be a lot of fun to see what spin they put on it.”
