Want a quick and easy way of getting 24 hours of community volunteering? Link Crew is the program for you. Link Crew is a program where selected upperclassmen (incoming juniors and seniors) gather for only four days out of their summer to train and practice their leadership skills by helping in freshmen orientation. This doesn’t just help you, but it also helps the incoming freshmen get comfortable and figure out that high school is a not so scary place after all. 

The Program was started by Senior Counselor, Joseph Thomas, and is heavily authorized by the 9th-11th grade counselor, Brittany Mckeith. Though The selection process does not start until nearly the end of the year it is highly recommended to contact them if you want further information or have any questions about the program. 

Starting with the first two days of link crew are training days. These two days you’ll learn the interesting activities the sponsors have planned for your group and the freshmen; you’ll learn to strategize and manage time efficiently so that orientation runs smoothly and timely. On both training days, you will have a group that will be your training group to help familiarize yourself with the people you are working with and practice your activities and transitions smoothly before orientation day. In between these days, you will also learn that you can partake in smaller roles in orientation besides the freshmen activities and campus tours. For instance, you can help with freshman sign ins, ushering freshmen to their seats, cleaning up crew and much more.  

Your next two days (which are about a week after training) are orientation days. This is where you put your training/practice to effect. You must come in at least 1 hour before orientation starts as we set up for orientation. Once everyone is in their smaller roles’ orientation will begin. Beginner activities and informational lectures will start, and you will be needed to participate in these activities so that the freshmen do too. The main goal after all is to make freshmen comfortable and ready for their next four years. Once the lecture is over you and your team members will take your group to their station and proceed with the activities that you learned during training. Stations are usually displaced.  

Link Crew is a great experience to try along with getting some easy hours in. It can also help you create bonds you would never think you would create either, as you familiarize yourself with people, you’d probably only see in the hallways the only con about the program is that you probably are waking up way earlier than you are during the summer but that’s really the only con to it. Give it a try and you might want to do it the next year!