by Emma Helmick

For the first time in two years the cubs were placed with the lions because there are no longer Freshman only advisories.

The Class of 2025 was the last that had a Freshman only advisory. The students as well as some of the staff thought that putting everyone together would benefit the Freshmen more.

“The 9th graders get to see some job shadowing, some career exploration and also get to see some of the senior projects and really learn from the older students,” High School Principal Mr. David Zilli said.

After only two years of experimenting with a class that had only 9^th graders, the school has returned to normal. Upperclassmen felt strongly about having mixed advisories. The Freshmen had a chance to see what they work on and know what to expect in the upcoming years. There is more mentoring done this way and a better opportunity to adjust and get used to the school and the environment.

“I think it can probably help them in the initial phase because there are really all Freshmen together, but at some point we have to transition them into being high school students where they are exposed to the entire student body,” Mr. Zilli said.

Introducing the Freshmen to the upperclassmen through advisory is a way to get them more comfortable with their learning environment early on.

“I wish there were more Freshmen, maybe not all Freshmen but at least some,” freshman Tanner Schmidt said. “I only know around two or three people in my class.”

Being in a classroom with people they do not know will allow the new kids to recognize some friendly faces from around the building and get them more aware of the older students around them.

“I recall that there were some people that definitely did not like having all Freshmen,” science teacher Mrs. Rachel Sassani said. “I think I was fortunate because my group in particular was a really nice group. There were no problems, but sometimes when you have the Freshmen with the upperclassmen at least at first, they are less likely to be silly goofy Freshmen so yeah, I do hear from some teachers that they did not like having Freshman advisory.”

Mrs. Sassani also said that last year it was a “little boring” because she did not have a lot of different things to talk about with her class. Both students and staff did not care for this plan.