Students make the grade at orientation

The quizzes have already started for some incoming high school students in Columbia County.

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"What school do you go to?" David Thibodeau, the Harlem High School graduation coach, asked the 100 or so rising freshmen at orientation on Friday.

"Harlem High School," they shouted back in unison.

At Evans High School on Wednesday, four rising freshmen got their high school careers off to a promising start.

They scored a 100 percent on their first high school test by correctly identifying photos of 10 staff members in an exercise to introduce them to school personnel.

More than 200 rising freshmen attended one of Harlem's two orientation sessions on Thursday and Friday. This is the fourth year Harlem has held freshmen orientation.

"It allows students to develop a relationship with the people here in the school ahead of time without the challenge of upperclassmen being in place," Thibodeau said. "By coming in early, the teachers have found that the students who participated in this program have it a little bit more together, a little more respect for the teachers."

The students did a team-building exercise. They learned about clubs, sports and activities; using a high school planner; graduation requirements; credits and career opportunities.

They found their lockers and took a tour of the school.

"I think it's a good experience," Taylor Inglett said of freshmen orientation. "It really helped me a lot because I really feel more prepared for high school now."

Taron Head said he was somewhat nervous about starting high school.

"It's going to be real hard - the credits, the extracurricular activities, getting to class on time, everything," he said.

About 150 rising freshmen attended one of three sessions of S.T.O.P. (Summer Transition Orientation Program) Worrying about High School at Evans, which held freshmen orientation for the first time this year.

Other activities included a fashion show in which upperclassmen demonstrated proper and improper school attire, games that let students get acquainted with each other, exercises to discover their learning styles and a school tour.

"I'm not seriously worried because I know it's not impossible," said Keith Sellers, a rising ninth-grader at Evans, about high school.

Rising Evans freshman Kirby Kenny said lunch is her biggest concern.

"I don't know where to sit," she said.