On Aug. 19 and 20, 550 freshmen, teachers and Link Crew leaders embarked on a two-day orientation to learn about Gunn’s class schedule, social community and physical layout.

“It was mostly to give information to freshman in order to help them transition smoothly into high school, but we also wanted to make sure they had a fun time,” Senior Student Body Vice President Charlotte Keeler said.

At last year’s orientation, the Link Crew leaders, all upperclassmen that applied for the position at the end of the year, chose their partners to lead the freshman groups. This year, however, Keeler and Student Activities Director Lisa Hall assigned Link Crew leaders to be partners. “It worked well to have two different link leaders that could expose them to different aspects of the school, instead of having best friends that are very similar lead them,” Keeler said.

After a welcoming assembly in Spangenberg where the cheer team taught the Gunn fight songs, the administration introduced themselves and various members of Student Elected Council discussed their roles at Gunn and how they would affect the students. The freshmen then split up into their assigned groups, accompanied by two upperclassman Link Crew leaders and one or two teachers. The students learned “What Every Freshman Should Know,” including the differences between middle school and high school and how to best communicate with teachers.

In the afternoon, the freshmen toured the campus to become familiar with the buildings. “[The tour] helped a lot because I didn’t know the campus at all, and just walking around helped me learn where buildings were,” freshman Cody Einfalt said.

At the end of the first day of orientation, the Link Crew groups had a session called “Gunn Community” about the social aspects of Gunn, teaching the freshmen about the freaking rules at dances and how to maintain long-lasting friendships. Keeler said this session was added after the class of 2011 gave feedback stating their desire to discuss the social scene at Gunn.

On the second day of orientation, Link Crew groups met and discussed ethics—why one should “choose what is right over what is easy,” senior Link Crew leader Marie Volpe explained. In this session, students split into groups and performed skits about various ethical problems like plagiarism, cheating and alcohol use. Einfalt said this section was not as important as learning more about the teachers and the homework load; two things he said he wished orientation spent more time discussing. Volpe agreed that the students did not gain a lot from the ethics session. “I thought the discussions about ethics and stereotypes weren’t useful and my group was pretty bored,” she said.

Many agreed that two days was too long for orientation. Keeler said that because many groups finished activities much earlier than expected, Link Crew will most likely create ways to shorten the orientation schedule for next year.

Freshman Chipper Stotz said that orientation added to his excitement about entering to Gunn. “I’m just excited for the culture of Gunn,” he said. “I like how the student body goes to football games and cheers for the team, and I like how people are willing to dress up and go all out during homecoming week.”

Though orientation has ended, there will be many more Link Crew activities to help freshmen feel supported and excited throughout the year. In addition to being stationed around school to direct lost students to their classes on the first day of school, the Link Crew leaders will hold an ice cream social this Friday, Aug. 29 after school. Other planned events include a Halloween festival and a tailgate before football or basketball games.