The following story is by Bear Creek Secondary School co-op student Bridgette Gilroy.
As Grade 8 students prepare for the transition to high school, Bear Creek Secondary School is there to lend a helping hand with their Link Crew and student council-led transition days.
On Monday (Dec. 9) and Thursday (Dec. 12), elementary students from eight schools in the area are heading over to the south-end Barrie high school to “dip their toes” into the new routine, says one Bear Creek teacher.
Beginning with an introduction from principal Jeremy Oxley, the elementary students will be entertained with an art showcase from the high school’s creative programs.
The Grade 8s will spend most of their day participating in team-building activities and games led by the Bear Creek Link Crew, a team of students assembled annually and certified in the Link Crew curriculum. Link Crew was created by the Boomerang Project, an American company dedicated to the importance of high school transitions.
“It’s students showing students our high school and introducing them to different classrooms and programs that they’ve never experienced in elementary school,” says Link Crew teacher Danielle Vanek.
After a brief recess and student council entertainment, the groups are given a tour around the Red Oak Drive school and introduced to the look of the classes.
Kristen Alderson, who's also a Bear Creek teacher and a member of the transition team at the high school, stresses the importance of the Grade 8 transition days.
“It’s because they step inside the high school … it's less scary the more times they do it,” she says. “The more times they’re here, the more comfortable they feel at the high school.”
Transition days have existed at Bear Creek since its opening in 2001, followed by Link Crew’s establishment in 2005.
“Another thing I like about the transition days is they are with different schools,” says Vanek. “They start to recognize and meet new people.”
Students are offered the comfortability of being with peers and teachers as well as being introduced to other students.
In addition to the transition days in December, future students are to attend Grade 9 Orientation Day in August, which is another chance for new pupils to get comfortable in a high school setting.
“The school is going to seem a lot bigger than the elementary school,” says Link leader Anna Imran. “I want to be there to guide them and get them ready for high school.”
Imran is in her first year with the Link Crew, but intends to join the team again next year.
Knowing how difficult the transition from elementary to secondary can be, she makes an effort to be a part of the initiative to make it easier.
“It’s OK to be nervous on your first day, but by the time you finish your first week you’ll know all your classes by heart,” Imran says.
“(The transition days are) an introduction to the Link Crew program as well,” says Alderson. “They’re going to see something similar when they come in for the orientation days, so this is their first snapshot at what that looks like.”
Since 2005, the Link Crew has been in motion at Bear Creek, with more than 80 students currently taking part. Though it exists as a course at the high school, students are not required to take it to become a Link Leader. However, proper certification is necessary. Future Link Leaders are required to attend a week of training before the beginning of the school year.
While the Link Crew’s main goal is to help new students feel welcome and included, its leaders also find themselves more connected with their school and themselves.
Link leaders aren’t always what people imagine them to be.
“Sometimes, it’s those quiet people who come forward and shine," says Alderson.
Link leaders are to wear their Link Crew shirts on the first day of school to be easily recognizable for new students.
“Seeing them throughout the school really helps,” says Vanek. “It’s that connection, too, a nice connection to a welcoming, older student.”
Due to the pandemic, multiple elementary graduating classes were unable to experience the transition and orientation days.
Alderson and Vanek both say this had a huge impact on the comfortabe level of the new students.
“There was Link Crew, but it was virtual Link Crew – you don't have that same connection with those senior students,” Alderson says.
And that is the end goal of the day, Vanek adds, finding that connection and inclusivity between current and future students.
The Link Crew philosophy believes that investing time in your school is investing in yourself. Whether you are a new student, a club member, or a student in the stands, anyone can reap the benefits of building a connection and community with your school.
The transition days are only the beginning of that journey.