Freshman Connection Helps Calm Jitters Program Helps Students Get A Sense Of Belonging, Feel Connected To Others Around Them

Coeur d’Alene schools

There’s a great deal of talk about safety in our schools, according to Norm Mahoney, a substance abuse counselor at Coeur d’Alene High School.

But regardless of what you do with police, surveillance cameras, metal detectors, underneath is the school’s environment.

To make the environment more attractive for incoming freshman, Mahoney helps organize Freshman Connection, a day when all of the ninth-grade class leaves campus and learns about connecting with each other and with selected seniors, teams of school counselors, and parents.

Now in its fifth year, the purpose, Mahoney said, is to allow freshman to get to know each other, and older kids and staff members.

“They can begin to realize what they expect of their high school experience, begin to feel like they belong,” he said.

In the wake of disasters like Columbine High School or the Texas church shootings, Mahoney noted that much thought has been devoted in schools to the root of the problem.

His own experience as a counselor has shown Mahoney that substance abuse is driven by feelings of alienation.

“But feeling like you belong reduces the risk of substance abuse,” he said.

Students feeling comfortable about going to high school lessens the likelihood of violence as well. “Everyone should feel like they have the right to be there,” Mahoney said.

Part of a larger program for all high school grades, Freshman Connection is a series of talks, exercises and small group discussions that revolves around selected seniors.

Last year was the first time the school had a senior class that had been through Freshman Connection four years earlier. Selecting 40 volunteers to help lead the meetings became a real task, Mahoney noted. But having been through the experience of Freshman Connection generated great interest among seniors.

Mahoney related a story of one senior who expressed how much playing football had meant to him through his years in high school. During a small group discussion, he took interest in a quiet student, offering to bring him to games which he did throughout the season.

“I think that’s a meaningful connection,” Mahoney said.

He pointed out that the transition from junior high to high school is a tough one. He noted, too, that the dropout rate is highest for sophomores.

“It’s a critical time,” he said. “and if freshmen weather that storm, the next block is more productive. If freshmen have a better start, they have a better chance to graduate.”

In other school district news

Elementary schools are looking forward to a visit from storyteller Vincent Kituku, who will present a program of traditional folk tales at all the district elementary schools during the week of Oct. 12.

Fund-raising efforts ranging from candy sales to wrapping-paper sales kicked off last week at Borah, Winton, and Ramsey elementary schools.

A parents craft fair will be held Oct. 16 in the gym at Coeur d’Alene High.

Open houses abound throughout the district. Ramsey Elementary’s features an ice cream social on Oct. 14. Sorenson Elementary offers a family picnic with open classrooms on Thursday. Fernan held a barbecue last Thursday. Coeur d’Alene High School will open its doors Oct. 4.

Ramsey Elementary invites grandparents to share lunch with the students Nov. 24 in observance of its own grandparents day.

Staff and students at Dalton Gardens Elementary are enjoying a newly remodeled wing and are looking forward to the completion of a new gym.

Dalton Gardens Fall Festival takes a new twist this year with dancing as part of the festivities.

Cross country athletics fill the calender this month as many intramural contests are held in district elementary schools. The district-wide meet is scheduled for Oct. 6.