Link Crew helps aids in assisting the freshman through their year in South High School. Link Crew assists with many things regarding the freshman including: giving them a tour of the school, helping them acclimate to South, and having Juniors and Seniors be their mentor. For the 2024-25 school year, the class of 2028 as well as future freshmen, have a new Link Crew supervisor Katie Barbour, who is now available to help students in need.
The new Link Crew leaders that have taken over in supervising everything that goes on and how everything is set up focus on helping freshmen. Barbour talks about some of the changes she’s been able to implement as she takes over her new role.
“I am going to take the first year and just go with the flow,” Barbour said. “We already have a great program with great students involved, so no major changes are necessary. This year, we are hosting a freshman tailgate on Thursday, Oct. 10 that I hope a lot of freshmen and Link Crew leaders attend.”
Barbour explains what the tailgate entails and the types of activities that will go on and why students should attend.
“It is a nice chance to hang out, eat some food, and watch the freshmen football team play. It’s our first event post-orientation between the leaders and freshmen,” Barbour said.
As well as implementing new changes within the Link Crew system, Barbour speaks on what made them want to supervise Link Crew.
“I did Link Crew at the first school I worked at over six years ago and I really missed the club and what it did for students,” Barbour said. “ I was trained with three other teachers to start Link Crew, so we were really able to make it what we wanted, and it was super valuable to the school culture and community.”
Barbour also mentioned some of the ways Link Crew has already stepped into action with her and others’ help. They’ve done orientations and created different groups within Link Crew so that the freshman can get to socialize with each other. So far, the freshmen this year have already had upperclassmen help them through the halls and have them as a leader.
“The leaders take the students through school on a tour, pointing out important places and people (like the secretaries) so freshmen also know who to go to if they ever need help,” Barbour said. “They also give them a ‘What Every Freshman Should Know’ which gives a list of different helpful hints to navigate the first few weeks of high school, and beyond. The idea behind Link Crew is that new freshmen know some older students that they can see in the hallway and talk with.”
