Last week, Channel Islands High School welcomed Ocean View Middle School students to provide incoming freshmen with basic information about the structure of the school. Middle school students were informed about the different programs, classes, and extracurricular activities that CI provides for its students.
Associated Student Body advisor and teacher Brett Zielsdorf stated that the event is a way for current students to help the middle schoolers make connections and build enthusiasm for the coming years.
“They see our school culture, performances, all the best clubs and sports here,” said Zielsdorf. “Everyone here has a great time as a Raider and to introduce the incoming students, who still have a choice on what school to go to; show them how great CI is.”
“It’s all about getting them excited to come to this school.”The event is broken down into three parts: a tour, performances by CI squads, and walking around to visit tables by current clubs and programs associated with CI. Clubs, programs, and sports got tables and booth-like set-ups around the gym so that the middle schoolers could talk to the advocates.
Essentially, the middle school walk-throughs are for incoming freshmen to gain familiarity with the school. Rather than coming in with no knowledge of where anything is or where to go for specific things, they can at least start the year with some familiarity, and hopefully leave the tour feeling much more prepared and exposed to what CI has to offer.
A good example of the exposure was from CI’s Welding program on campus. Jessica Davila, senior, spoke to incoming students about the skills they would develop in the program and the benefits of joining the pathway.
“Welding is not just a hard blue collar job,” said Davila. “The minimum wage starts off really good, and just in case the students don’t think they can do something harder or academic based, this is a really profitable alternative.”
Davila added that the Welding program on campus, “helps students out a lot because they can get a certification right after high school.”
Another pathway the middle school students learned about was regarding HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America), CI’s medical pathway. Dulce Alonso, junior, advised middle schoolers that the pathway simply means that the classes are, “skill-based and prepares for a specific area of expertise.”
“We learn a lot about different skills based areas,” Alonso said. “Things you need to know to be a doctor, a nurse, or anything related to the medical field. We learn how to do hands on CPR, for example.”
In addition to talking about the skills that students could learn in HOSA, Alonso also explained the benefits of joining. She mentioned that the program is, “a great way to realize ones’ interest in medicine, and to figure out whether or not it is the right career for them.”
“Intro to healthcare helps you get into that mindset where you think ‘I want to do this,’” Alonso said.
One of the student tour representatives, senior Sofía Padilla, mentioned that since she was a freshman when distance learning during the COVID pandemic was ending, she didn’t get to tour around the school and began her first year in high school with unfamiliarity.
“I never had the experience of a tour on campus because of COVID, so I didn’t really get advice, and I felt like I didn’t have anyone to look up to or help me,” said Padilla. “I feel like these kids need someone they can look up to; someone to help them out, so I want to give them advice and be that mentor for them .”
Marina De La Cruz, a junior who also participated as a tour guide, had a different perspective. De La Cruz believes that these kids need some comfort by getting familiar with the campus. “It can be overwhelming, not knowing what to do, especially in 9th grade,” De La Cruz said.
For De La Cruz, the experience as a tour guide was also an emotional one to see middle school students whose shoes she had been in once before. “It was kind of scary because that means I’m getting older,” said De La Cruz.
“That’s really scary.”
The event was an overall success, as the incoming students who came to visit had many resources and information available for them. As overwhelming as all the information given during the event may have been for the incoming Raider freshmen, it is safe to say that the school made a great effort to ensure that they would be prepared for the next year.
Assistant Principal Wendi Butler reflected that the event reinforces CI’s values. “CI is a school that really cares about these kids,” said Butler. “It is a safe place to come every day in a time that is very unsafe outside.”
“I think this is a wonderful place to learn how to be an adult, come every day, and feel cared about.”
