For most, the beginning of the school year is stressful and overwhelming. Summer break has barely ended and so has the “no school” mentality. The first tests and quizzes have begun to trickle in, bringing panic and anxiety. For freshmen, these first weeks can be especially hard. On top of the academic stress they are under, these students must learn to adapt to this new environment and try to find their place in all the chaos that is high school. Thankfully, the Mentor Program has a way to combat this distress.

Field Day is a chance for freshmen to leave their classrooms and interact with one another, all while learning new skills to help them navigate through high school. With the help of their mentors and teachers, they participate in fun, team building activities.

“The idea of field day is for team building and also to have the freshmen learn more about their peers, themselves and their mentors,” said health teacher and one of the Mentor Program directors Claire Shreeve.

The freshmen rotated through different stations to participate in. The stations  were structured so students had to communicate and practice leadership skills. The stations included an activity where students had to work together to walk across the field on two wooden planks, folding a tarp into shapes all while standing on it and the human knot where students connected themselves with rope and tried to get untangled, to name a few.

“It was really easy to get to know people because it involved a lot of teamwork. I really liked all the games but my favorite was the human knot,” said freshman Jessie Horner on her experiences with field day.

The freshmen had a lot of fun on Freshmen Team Building Day and were able to see how the Yorktown community functions best, with everyone participating and learning.

“Field day makes the transition to high school much easier and it allows students to meet new people. It was a great way to start out the school year,” Horner said.