As the 2023-2024 school year comes to an end, CHS is making preparations to welcome students in the coming year. One group in particular, Link Crew, is searching for the next group of upperclassmen who can be role models for the incoming freshmen.

Sean Tamura, Jill Fuller, and Lisa Schneider created Link Crew to help middle school students transition to high school. This involves planning and setting up various community building events that connect older, more acquainted students with the new freshman class. As a result, the freshman students create a network of knowledgeable and relatable peers they can report back to.

On Wednesday, April 24, Link Crew hosted their most recent event for Link Crew.

“[On Wednesday] we played ‘Sometimes It’s Just Not Fair,’” Schneider, a Link Crew supervisor, said. “[We] posed easy questions to one group and hard questions to another and gave out candy for right answers. Eventually, they realized, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not fair.’ We’re trying to teach them how to communicate positively regardless of [the difficulty of the] question.”

In addition to organizing the Freshman Orientation and connectivity events, the upperclassman, called ‘Link Crew Leaders,’ can attend exclusive events like the summer training session and barbecue.  Link Crew serves as the perfect platform for upperclassmen to make an impact on the new generation.

“[Link Crew] helped me with forecasting like understanding the sheet and stuff,” freshman Ella Conley said.

Most students acknowledge Link Crew Leaders and understand their role in promoting inter-grade communities.

“It’s nice knowing there’s somebody there,” freshman Bex Wilson said.

During the pandemic, this notion—of needing a reliable peer network—was especially true. Over the 2020-2021 school year, Link Crew meetings were primarily online, with talks centered around school life and mental health. Now, in 2024, they’ve brought back the trivia, bingo, and team building activities from pre-pandemic times.

“My favorite Link Crew event was when Mrs. Fuller dressed up as a bunny rabbit,” Schneider said. “It was like a bunny hunt and you got certain stamps for finding her. It was hilarious.”

As of now, Link Crew is opening applications for incoming upperclassmen who want to give back to their community. They’re looking for students who are inspiring, involved, and enthusiastic about meeting new people. Because Link Crew is largely student-led, freshmen are able to meet upperclassmen who relate to the high school experience more than adults will.