By Ellie Sandlin
Every year, 8th graders graduate from their respective middle schools to join together as highschool students. Their expectations are high as they walk through the doors and into the long hallways. Upperclassmen bustle around, knowing where to go and how to get there. Eventually, the freshmen make it to their classrooms, tucked away into the safety of the Freshman Academy. Do these same freshman enjoy their experience in the Freshman Academy, or is there more to it than we know?
The only way to find out how they feel is to ask. The first freshman interviewed, Layla Carlisle, explains, “It feels a little crowded, but still spacious since you’re not part of the main building along with sophomores, juniors, and seniors.” Having one hall for the Freshman class can create a crowd, but less crowding than if they were with the upperclassmen. Clay Warden optimistically states that the Freshman Academy is “nice because you get your first year to get kinda used to high school.” What he means is that freshmen get time to get accustomed to schedules, difficult classes, and the strange independence that high school brings before trying to fit in with the upperclassmen. It is nice that they are not immediately thrown in.
Still, there is another question needing to be answered: does the Freshman Academy properly prepare students for the next three years of their lives? Other than by crowding, these hallways bring students closer together. After being competitive middle schools, freshmen finally get to know one another as equals. Layla Carlisle believes that being in the same hallway encourages freshmen “to communicate.” The Freshman Academy forms relationships, but does it prepare students for navigating the upperclassmen hallways? Unfortunately, most students interviewed answered negatively. Madeline Reno, a current junior, says that she had problems navigating, saying, “We were stuck in the freshman wing and didn’t get to see where any of the other classes were.” A sophomore, Hannah Vick, was asked if she often got lost during the first days of school, and replied, “I feel like I do because we didn’t go around the school freshman year.” The issue of getting lost after moving out of the Freshman Academy seems to be a widespread occurrence, but is there anything that can be done?
When asked the same question, Mr. Spears answered, “We have a freshman orientation night. We have also looked at having a sophomore orientation, because more sophomores get lost on the first days of schools than freshmen.” There aren’t many opportunities during freshman year to explore, so having a night set aside for upcoming sophomores to do so would solve the problem quite nicely. Mr. Spears was also asked why the Freshman Academy was created and what makes it different from the other side of the school. He answered by explaining that having a Freshman Academy is necessary because “We have a unique set-up, as far as having five kindergarten through eighth grade schools coming into one.” He goes on to state that the Freshman Academy “allows all of those students coming from different schools to come together as one.” The Freshman Academy is different simply because of communication and teamwork. Mr. Spears explained that the rules are the same throughout the entire highschool, but the Freshman Academy is more uniform because the White Cat teachers work together and the Blue Cat teachers work together.
On that first day of high school, it can be disappointing to be placed into the smallest part of the school, but it is not as bad as it seems. Of course, Mr. Spears said it himself, “There’s always something I can do better,” but the good always seems to outweigh the bad. In this very place is where Chandlers Bears, Olmstead Rams, Lewisburg Rangers, Auburn Tigers, and Adairville Cardinals come together to be Logan County Cougars.
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