A Look Into LINK Leadership

The transition from middle school to high school can be challenging for incoming freshmen, causing some unnecessary stress and confusion. To combat this, a group of teachers including Joyanna Forsythe brought the “LINK” program to South. LINK is a class juniors and seniors can take that links them up with incoming freshmen. The students in LINK are called LINK leaders, and their job is to make freshmen feel welcome at South. Each leader has 17 or more kids.
“The main purpose of LINK is to provide support for freshmen, social support and academic support,” Forsythe said. The LINK class meets during third period.
“Usually we will sit down and have team time,” Quetzali Hart ‘19 says, “we’ll do little projects like tutoring.” In the LINK class, students learn skills in leadership and communication.
“Half of [the class] is to run the freshmen,” Forsythe says, “the other half is about personal development as a leader.” The class completes activities for team building and leadership, including the Myers–Briggs test to determine their personality types and analyze their personalities.
“As a leader my main duties are to connect with my freshmen every month to check in with them and make sure that they’re doing well, keep them updated on upcoming events,” Hart says. The leaders also participate in ‘random acts of kindness’, where they leave goodie bags in students’ classes. Leaders also check up with their students to see if they need help with schoolwork or social situations.
LINK recently opened a FROSH box for freshmen to express feelings or concerns about LINK. It is a very new program, having been started just two years ago, and they are open to any feedback or suggestions.
“We’re in the works of planning a huge freshmen end of the year party,” Hart says. The party will have food, games, and a possible water balloon fight. Some other events are monthly tutoring, on the second Tuesday of the month; ‘You Otter Study’, a study session for finals complete with Otter Pops; and random check-ins and gifts from leaders.
Overall, LINK is a program designed to help freshmen adapt to high school life, and to teach Juniors and Seniors in the class skills working with others and helping one another. They host a variety of events, and work to benefit the student body.