In the News: Freshmen hit the ropes

On Monday morning, incoming freshmen at Newberg High School were turned into flying squirrels before they went whale watching. They also played variations of rock, paper, scissors while sheltered from the mist under the towering firs of Camp Yamhill.

This is the second year that incoming freshmen were offered the opportunity to take part in a more in-depth introduction to their high school careers. Freshman adviser Cassandra Thonstad, a mathematics teacher, worked with 15 of the 25 students she will advise.

“These are actually the kids I’ll be working with this year and the next three years,” she said.
After different stabs at advisory groups, the small schools have adopted a model where incoming groups of students are paired with a staff member, teacher or not, who will be their adviser for their entire school career. Thonstad said that 220 of an incoming class of 411 students were participating this year, down from 280 last year.

“We’re hoping to build a team through this,” Thonstad said.

The students were graduates of Chehalem Valley and Mountain View middle schools and told events facilitator Sam Mears that they didn’t know many others in their group. After a turn at the flying squirrel, in which a harnessed student is pulled into the air by his peers at the other end of the rope, the students played variants of rock, paper, scissors, where they had to imitate various things (such as eggs, mosquitoes, dinosaurs, a ballerina) or start cheering for the person who beat them. Afterward, Mears prodded them about the games and having to act goofy in front of others. The consensus was that it made them feel more at ease.

According to Thonstad, the day had a greater purpose than just fun and games. She said that research indicates that students with meaningful connections in high school are less likely to drop out. The hope is that by having team-building activities outside of school, the freshmen will form bonds that will help keep each other accountable. If one student misses school for a few days, the hope is that other students will call to inquire, keeping that person accountable, Thonstad said.

The group’s next step was “whale watching,” a massive teeter-totter onto which students had to climb one at a time while keeping it balanced. Some students took leadership roles, guiding others as they stepped on, while others stayed put and some horsed around.

Matthew Hanks, 14, attempted to guide the students on and off the contraption. A player on the freshman football team, he said he already knew five of the students in his group.

The flying squirrel taught him “that I need to trust the people who are going to be at my school,” he said. He said he’s looking forward to meeting new people in high school and wants to keep his grades up for college and hopefully a career as a professional basketball player. If that doesn’t work, he’d like to be a missionary through his church.

While all the participating freshmen experienced the team- and confidence-building activities of the camp, it was different for every group. “There (are) nine groups and they’re all experiencing different rope courses,” Thonstad said.

By: Laurent Bonczijk, Newberg Graphic