On Friday, August 19th, approximately three hundred students attended Roosevelt High School’s Freshman Kickoff. The event was designed to ease the transition from middle school to high school and for the students to become familiar with their new surroundings.

After registration, every student received a t-shirt and a name tag. The students also got their schedules and a map which was as part of a scavenger hunt to help familiarize them with the layout of the school.

The students then moved into the auditorium were they were welcomed to the event and introduced to their upper-class mentors. An overview of the entire day was given, which involved discussion with upper-classmen, games, and a spirit cheer.

A humorous compilation of stereotypical high school movies were shown including Napoleon Dynamite, Glee, Mean Girls, Back to the Future, and Karate Kid. The mentors explained that none of this happens at high school, especially RHS. Afterward, the new principal Mr. Klinar took the podium and explained the experience of being in high school.

“Whenever someone jumps to a new school, it is always a big task,” explained Mr. Klinar.

To close the the opening assembly, Mr. Klinar delivered an important message, “There are 3 types of people who attend this school; those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened! Which are you going to be?”

Everyone then moved to the Gym where the freshmen sat in the bleachers were lead through several cheers by Senior Mackenzie Huston. The event also included “Simon Says,” “The Freshman Cheer” and “Arrostasha.”

The freshman group was then split in two. One group went to the back corner of the auditorium and the library. The other group was placed into smaller groups for team-building exercises. The team-building involved the groups going over rules and expectations. It also included balloons which had a question placed inside that freshman had to pop and then answer. These question ranged from “How many members are in your family?” to “What are you afraid of in your life?” One freshman was afraid of being stepped on, however a mentor explained that as a Junior, she was no taller than the freshman and that everything would be alright.

Later a “Fashion Show” was put on to show what can and cannot be worn at school. At 10:15am, the groups switched. At the auditorium, Freshman Advisors Mrs. Harr and Mrs. Consillio posed question about RHS. They both went over several questions and had the students answer with their cellphones.

“I like these questions, and the answering with cellphones is better and quicker than normal,” said Freshman Shane Lindon.

Then in the library, Technology Coordinator Mrs. Baliman taught students how to sign into the school’s computers as well as using the new Google Docs cloud server. The main goal for this part of the day was exposure to the new technology.

“Teachers wanted a standard log-in and access in a way for everyone to use Google Docs. Not everyone has Word or flash drives and there are always compatibility issues, so with this, a lot of problem are gone,” said Mrs. Baliman.

Then the Freshmen were split into three groups determined by which lunch period they have. 4th period went to the cafeteria and had popsicles and posed lunch questions. 5th period went to play games in the gym. 6th period went to the Library to sign the Freshman banner. The three groups then rotated.

At the end, everyone went back to the auditorium and the MCs shared their favorite questions from the small groups discussions. Then videos were shown, including a Freshmen retreat invite, as well as a video showing previous kickoffs. The freshmen then exited out with the “Freshmen Cheer.” The freshmen begin their high-school journey at RHS on Wednesday, August 24th.