DAWG HOUSE

By PAMELA GRANT

A flood of incoming freshmen and their parents poured into the Lea Ledger Auditorium in order to get a head start on their journey through high school. The Copperas Cove High School hosted its  annual Dawg House Welcome Monday morning. The Dawg House Welcome serves as away for the high school to give the incoming  freshmen and their parents an idea about what high school will be like. “It’s all about helping with the new student  transition,” said Krystal Meredith, who was in charge of the Dawg House Welcome. “The idea is that when you change schools, being able to  link in with any one person—research shows that you have more success…We try to create a  group of mentors to foster that opportunity for new students to have someone to link in with.”  All of the incoming freshmen were divided into smaller groups led by members of the  Link Crew, junior and senior high school students who volunteered to help out.  “We pull from almost every club on campus with the idea that, regardless of what you’re interested in…there’s going to be someone in the Link Crew who is a part of that organization,” said Meredith. Each group led the freshmen through the massive high school, stopping by several different stations along the way. “I’ve been wanting to join [the Link Crew] since my freshman year because I thought it  was cool and I wanted to help people find their way around the school,” said junior Rebecca Boyd. “We were trained pretty good, so we know what we’re doing.”Rebecca Boyd was  also excited about the fact that her younger sister  will be joining her in high school. She hopes that she  will be able to be there  for her sister and help to make sure high school  will be more enjoyable for her than junior high was.  “I’m scared…It’s very very weird,” said  Brittany Boyd, Rebecca’s younger sister, about entering high school. “I’m used to being in junior high and my sister being in high school.” Brittany Boyd came with her mother, Paula Ramos, to the Dawg House Welcome. Ramos said that she likes the fact that the school holds the welcome. “I think it’ll help take the edge of the fear off,” she said. With the conclusion of the Dawg House Welcome, perhaps those incoming  freshmen—and their parents—will feel that much more comfortable about beginning their journey through high school.