In past years, freshman sporting events have been under attended, but this year SJHHS Link Crew decided it was time for a change.

The SJHHS Link Crew is responsible for helping freshman transition to high school. They run Freshman Orientation, Freshman Academic Intervention, and various other events during the year aimed at supporting the school’s underclassmen.

Chris Mauerman, a Commissioner of Link Crew, describes the new program this year as follows: “Basically what they’re going to do to have Link Crew leaders further stay engaged with the freshman throughout the year is to make them attend three different freshman sporting events from a variety of different events for the fall.” So far, the calendar for this program is targeted toward the freshman fall sports teams like girls’ volleyball, boys’ water polo, and football and will most likely continue this with winter and spring sports in the upcoming semester.

One of the student creators of this program, Lucy Collins, said, “I know this program is a big commitment for the Junior and Senior Link Crew leaders to take on, but it is definitely worth it. We want our Freshman to feel appreciated and valued at San Juan, and this is a great way to show that.”

Mrs. Klingbeil, an English teacher and director of Link Crew said, “I think it’s going to be a great way to support freshmen athletics. We are always looking for new ways to support freshmen at SJHHS.” She also added, “We could make a huge audience for these games.”

With 120 leaders all being required to attend at least three games, Mauerman said, “[It’s a] Good way to boost the audience.” Which he claims is essential in his own experiences as “Having more people there to encourage me definitely boosts me [as a student athlete] up and helps me perform better.”

This is just one of the many programs undertaken by our school’s Link Crew in an attempt to help freshman adapt to the culture at SJHHS because as Mauerman put it, “We are all one big stallion family!”