This year, Stallion Start-Up, formerly known as Link Crew, will be run by teachers Brianna Lintz and Courtney Hansen.

The change from Link Crew to Stallion Start-Up was due to the fact that the trademark licensed program, Link Crew, has decided to design its programming for schools fully online. With San Juan Hills being entirely in person, it would not make sense, nor be legal, for the school to continue taking part in the Link Crew program while operating in person, hence the switch  to Stallion Start-Up.

Lintz has been at San Juan Hills for six years and is currently teaching Algebra One and AVID. In her free time she enjoys being outdoors, hiking, and spending time with family and friends. Lintz also recently announced that she is pregnant, and is spending her time outside of school preparing for the arrival of her baby.

Hansen has been teaching for twenty-four years and this will be her fourth year here at San Juan. Hansen teaches personal finance and a math intervention class on campus. In her personal time, she loves going to the beach, dancing, and working out. Hansen has two kids, one sophomore and one seventh grader.

Stallion Start-Up is a program that takes incoming freshmen and groups them with other freshmen, along with junior and senior leaders, in hopes that freshmen will gain a couple core social connections before the school year begins.

“We want students that are incoming freshmen to be comfortable at our school. And in doing so, we have partnered them up with two leaders, upperclassmen, juniors and seniors, so that they can feel at least like they have a big buddy. Someone that they can trust, go to if they need anything, and for them to always have someone looking out for them,” said Lintz.

Taking on Stallion Start-Up as advisers was not a difficult decision for neither Lintz, nor Hansen. Both teachers are passionate about student leadership and helping to make San Juan Hills the best it can be.

“For me, at school I want everything to be about the students and this is one of those programs where it is all about the students, and seeing students lead other students is so rewarding. It’s one of those things that just makes you appreciate even more what we do as teachers. It is an amazing opportunity and it’s something that a lot of people don’t get to see very often,” said Lintz.

Hansen went through a similar program herself as a freshman, which has inspired her to help lead a program like the one that impacted her own life as a student.

“When I was in high school I was in ASB and I also went through a program where when I was a freshman I was paired up with a junior and senior and it just was such a good experience for me. I like to be involved in student leadership and a lot of times in the classroom I don’t have the opportunity to do that, so this was the perfect opportunity. And Mrs. Lintz and I are friends outside of school, so to be able to spend more time and work together was a big blessing,” said Hansen.

Because Lintz and Hansen have been working at San Juan Hills for several years, they have had the opportunity to learn from the prior advisors of Link Crew, as well as observe how the program was run.

Hansen admired that Link Crew activities were kept going throughout the entire year, and that consistency is something the new advisers are aiming to replicate. At the moment, their plan is to have at least one activity a month to bring the students and leaders together.

Lintz and Hansen are eager to preserve traditions from previous years of the program, and they are also excited to implement new concepts.

“Something I hope to see that we build is students doing more of the leading and the planning and the execution, so that way they can build those skills that they need. And, what colleges are looking for are student leaders. We believe giving the juniors and seniors that opportunity to take ownership of this program where we just facilitate instead of delegating is key,” said Lintz.

After many hours of summer preparation and the several days of freshman orientation, Lintz and Hansen have received many compliments about the members of Stallion Start-Up. The uncertainty of it all is finally at peace, leaving them beyond excited for what’s to come this school year.

“Coming off of the COVID year and a half, we’ve been talking that it’s been so inspiring to us to see students that are excited to come to school and to lead other kids and to have fun, that it’s been rubbing off on us. We were nervous, we didn’t know what it was going to be like when we came back, but the enthusiasm that all the leaders had totally inspired us and we were like ‘ok, it’s going to be a great year,’” said Hansen.