Link Crew, the national orientation and mentoring program, is now in its 15th year at West Hartford’s Hall High School.

By Ronni Newton

Members of the Class of 2029 were welcomed to Hall High School this year by a dedicated group of upperclassmen who applied to be selected and then volunteered as members of Link Crew, an international orientation and mentoring program that is now in its 15th year at Hall.

Approximately 330 incoming ninth graders, as well as students in grades 10 through 12 who have transferred into Hall High School, were welcomed on Monday, Aug. 25 by 89 junior and seniors who were accepted as Link leaders after applying last spring and attending a training session so they would be ready to run the orientation program, ease the transition of the new students to high school, and prepare to be mentors throughout the school year.

This year’s faculty coordinators are math teachers Christina Hunter and Darcie Hudson, and school social worker Caitlin Merriman.

The theme for this year’s orientation was the “Hall” of Fame.

Orientation activities take place as one large group, but the students are also broken up into smaller groups that engage in ice breakers and take school tours and have conversations about making connections, joining clubs, and sharing successful habits for high school.

Link Crew doesn’t stop with orientation. The program sets the tone for a successful year through email connections as well as follow up through academic and social activities.

“Coming up on Friday Sept. 12, Link Leaders will host the Grade 9 Tailgate before the first home football game. Ninth graders can come for free food and games and then free entrance to the game with a tailgate bracelet,” Hunter said.

“We also plan to continue our Cookies, Cocoa and Cram Midterm review sessions in January,” she added.

Members of Link Crew are also hoping to attend an upcoming Student Link Leader conference in Connecticut, hosted by The Boomerang Project, that will bring together student leaders from throughout the state to work on their leadership skills.

Conard High School also instituted a Link Crew program a few years after Hall, and West Hartford’s middle schools use WEB (Where Everybody Belongs), a similar peer group orientation program founded by the same national company, for orientation of rising sixth graders.

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