Link Crew is a highly desirable club to be in at Benilde-St. Margarets where juniors and seniors are trained to help the new freshman class have a seamless transition into senior high. There are several training days for link crew leaders to ensure they are in the best position to help the freshmen have a fun and memorable first day of high school.
On the freshman’s first day of school, Link Crew greeted them and then the freshmen split into small groups based on homeroom. The Link Crew Leaders then played an assortment of games with the freshmen to familiarize them with one another. “I learned everybody’s names, and it made me feel a lot more connected,” freshman Josh Peters said.
The Link Crew also wears shirts that easily identify them as Link Crew Leaders. The t-shirts always have a theme with a catchphrase. For example, this year’s theme was High School Musical: “We are all in this together.” These shirts make Link Crew Leaders easily recognizable so they can help lead new freshmen to their classes. “I feel comfortable going up to the link leaders in the halls and asking questions. They have been really helpful,” freshman Macee Jacobson said.
Link Crew has been a successful club at BSM and always has a positive impact on students that fosters connections between freshmen and upperclassmen. “I think it’s helpful for them to have opportunities to interact with their peers and have opportunities to interact with upperclassmen, where they can build a positive relationship and not start from a point where they’re intimidated by older students, but understand that there are people in this building that have their back,” Link Crew advisor Max Johnson said.
This year Link Crew was a rousing success. Although Link Crew was a triumph, there are always improvements that can be made, such as making the orientation day a half day or playing fewer games, but overall the day was a fun one for freshmen. “The one thing I would change is how long it is on a daily like it shouldn’t be a full day, it should just be a couple hours,” Jacobson said.