School year begins with freshman orientation
Incoming freshmen had their first day of school Tuesday, Sept. 9
September 9, 2020
After an extended debate on whether Johnson County schools should reopen, the school board allowed schools in the district to have in-person classes. School reopening kicked off with freshman orientation Tuesday, Sept. 9. Freshman orientation included tours of the school, a socially-distanced pep assembly, school pictures and information from the counselors. The students were also able to do a walk-through of their schedule and meet their teachers.
Freshman Jackson Schaffer liked learning about the building and the locations of his classes.
“I’m really enjoying that we get to go to our classes before we actually have to go find them,” Schaffer said. “We got to be guided around; that was nice.”
StuCo member junior Logan Pfeister enjoyed helping the freshmen get a feel for this school.
“It’s kind of funny seeing how lost they are at times,” Pfeister said. “I really liked giving tours to the freshmen. It’s always fun getting to know them one on one.”
During the pep assembly, student body president Ellie Boone taught the freshman the school fight song and common student section chants. Senior Emily Gipson valued this lesson.
“They don’t know [the cheers] yet so they have to learn them for football,” Gipson said. “It’s good that they teach them here.”
On top of learning cheers, the freshman watched the Silver Stars dance team perform at the pep assembly. As a dancer, Gipson noted the freshman seemed anxious.
“They seemed a little bit nervous, but they cheered us on so it was good,” Gipson said. “The masks probably make high school a lot more intimidating.”
Pfeister recognized the importance of safety precautions, but acknowledged the difficulty of social distancing during orientation.
“The hardest part is wearing the masks and trying to social distance. Everyone is wearing their mask but it’s hard in the hallways when you pass people to stay six feet apart,” Pfeister said. “It’s hard but, obviously, we have to do it.”
Schaffer enjoyed catching up with people he hadn’t seen since school.
“My favorite part has been just like hanging out with my friends and seeing my friends for the first time in months,” Schaffer said.
