Due to the current construction and new administration under principal Charles Blanchard, Chapel Hill High School’s Tiger Link program employed new strategies during freshman orientation on August 24.
“It was probably one of the smoothest freshman orientations I’ve ever seen,” Blanchard said.
English teacher Tom Stanfa, who has run the Tiger Links program for over ten years, was also optimistic about the program this year, even though this year’s group of Links leaders is smaller than average.
“We have a strong group of Link leaders,” he said. “The ideal Tiger Link is a student who has a desire to improve themself academically and really cares about helping their freshman.”
Students can apply to be Link leaders at the end of their sophomore or junior years by filling out an application about their school activities and why they are interested in the Tiger Links program. Then Stanfa conducts interviews to determine an applicant’s qualifications and leadership skills.
On orientation day, groups of eight to ten freshmen were assigned to pairs of Link leaders, who give them tours of campus and lead them through get-to-know-you games.
“The freshmen did a really good job working with us. [The campus] was new to [the Link leaders] as well,” senior and Link leader Karis Dean said. “We had to have orientation days for us to tour around campus so that we would know where to go and what to do.”
Freshman Nicole Beetham said she felt more relaxed on orientation day because the environment was new for everyone involved.
“To be honest, I liked the idea that I wasn’t going to be the only lost person on the first day,” Beetham said. “It would be the upperclassmen, too.”
Stanfa said he hopes to make improvements to the Tiger Links program throughout the year, implementing new programs for freshmen to receive help from their Link leaders.
One such program is Link Alert, an opportunity for struggling freshmen to reach out to their Link leaders as the first step in receiving help. Stanfa is currently looking into possibilities for other ways to allow freshmen to connect with their Link leaders.
“People always say practice makes perfect,” Stanfa said, “but I think it’s more that practice makes progress.”
