GHS safari to soothe the freshmen blues
Published 12:00 am Saturday, July 19, 2003
If you wander through the halls of Greenville High School on July 30 and things look a little wild, there’s no cause for concern. It’s only the annual Freshman Orientation &uot;Safari,&uot; and they’re only getting wild about school this fall.
Each year the GHS staff holds a &uot;get-acquainted&uot; session at the school to familiarize incoming freshmen with their new education establishment before the crush of classes begin.
Safari coordinator Ashley Catrett said the program has been well-received over the years.
&uot;It has proven to be a good way to ease new high school students into our routine, and reduce their anxiety about being in a new and larger school environment,&uot; she said.
The program will begin at 8:45 a.m., and consist of a brief assembly in the school auditorium to meet and be welcomed by school officials, a tour of the campus and a chance to observe the offerings of the many clubs at the Club Expo.
&uot;The Expo allows us to showcase all the clubs here at GHS, and give the freshmen a chance to meet the clubs’ officers and members,&uot; Catrett said. &uot;They set up booths that highlight the clubs’ activities, and give the new students a chance to ask questions about them.&uot;
The main part of the Safari will be the tour of the campus, the coordinator said.
&uot;The students are divided into homeroom classes during the assembly,&uot; she said. &uot;Then they walk through the building as a group. They also receive their class schedules, and the tour gives them the chance to locate their classes so they know where to go on the first day of school.&uot;
Catrett said this arrangement also gives the students a chance to meet their classmates.
&uot;We think the Safari soothes those new school jitters that many students suffer,&uot; she said. &uot;This freshman class contains 227 students, a typical size for our school, and that’s a lot of people coming into a school at one time at the beginning of the year. This orientation allows them to ask questions and learn their routine in a more relaxed atmosphere than is usually found on the first school day.&uot;