With the countdown to the first day of school beginning, Freshman Rush filled the halls with fresh faces, wide eyes and bundles of nerves. The main goal of the day was simple: introduce the Class of 2020 to Lake Central.
“We want to make you feel comfortable in a 75,000 square foot building,” Principal Sean Begley said to the crowd of incoming freshmen.
The group kicked off the day with a meeting in the auditorium with words of advice, an introduction to the administration and a group selfie. Excitement for the event was built by using what teenagers love the most: social media.
“Before Freshman Rush even started, we used Instagram and Twitter to promote it and get students excited. During the Rush we told students to add us on Snapchat in order to follow along with our scavenger hunt. The purpose of the hunt was to get students familiar with certain parts of the school, while having fun as well,” Stefan Krajisnik (12) said.
The interactive scavenger hunt helped students have fun while trying to navigate the building, something a majority of freshman fear.
“[I’m scared about] getting lost and not being able to find my classes,” Vanessa Anaya (9) said.
Luckily the incoming class had some help from upperclassmen, the people most well-versed with how to get from period to period.
“My favorite part [about giving tours] was enlightening the kids because they didn’t even know how many levels of the school we have. It was fun to show them all the cool places that they’ll be spending their next four years,” Francesca Pezzutto (12) said.
With the first student day on August 15, having an event dedicated to making freshmen feel at home a week before made some students eager to start.
“I had a really fun time actually looking at the school because when I walked into it I was like ‘wow, this is where I’m going to be for the next four years’ and I got really excited,” Mackenzie Kusbel (9) said.
