On August 20th, nearly one hundred new sixth-grade students were welcomed to Pine View by a group of experienced students with a series of group exercises and a campus tour.
The Where Everyone Belongs, or “WEB,” orientation was organized by senior Katherine Salvatori, President of the WEB club. “As a new–to–PV 6th grader, the WEB program really impacted me and helped me to adjust to a new school, and I’ve been involved as a WEB leader ever since.” said Salvatori. “I think the program makes a large impact on new students and allows them to ask questions, make connections with new friends and older role model students, and become [better] accustomed to PV.”
“I had a great time helping out the new sixth graders,” said twelfth-grade WEB Leader Varshini Gali. “It’s really daunting to enter a new school without knowing anybody, but WEB does a great job helping them acclimatize to PV.” said Gali.
The new middle school students arrived at the Gymnasium around 9:30 a.m., and were welcomed by Ms. McManus, the school counselor for grades six and seven. They were then broken up into smaller groups for team-building games led by older students. The activities were created specifically to allow the new students to get to know each other and their student leaders.
Later the groups embarked on tours of the campus led by WEB leaders. “The kids seemed really interested in our campus, and we got to show some of them where their classes will be held during the year,” said tenth-grade WEB Leader Zachary Fagiani.
After the tours, the new students were provided a pizza lunch and a singing performance from senior Anna Tucker, who sang “You’ve Got a Friend In Me.”