As the school year started, Link Crew celebrated the arrival of the class of 2025. With lots of excitement and anxiousness in the air, Jumpstart shook the school to a great start.

Link Crew is an upperclassmen leadership program that is aimed toward making BHS a more student-led school. The Link Leaders go through an extensive training to run Jumpstart Day activities that involve teambuilding and preparing students for high school and all the obstacles they will face. Link Crew helps freshmen build relationships with role models that help steer them in the right direction as they enter their high school career.

“Being a Link Leader comes with a bunch of responsibilities, but it is worth it because I want to become a role model for the freshman this year so they have someone to look up to and ask questions to when they’re confused or lost,” Junior Osmar Murillo mentioned. 

Juniors and seniors must apply to be a Link Leader. The applications go out in the spring, and Link Crew coordinators select students before school is over. At the end of summer, juniors and seniors attend their training and get ready for jumpstart day. Following that, they are placed in a freshmen advisory with the new students to help mentor them through their first year.

This year due to COVID-19, things looked a bit different during Jumpstart. Link Crew coordinator Samantha Symonds talked about her excitement for this year’s mentors. 

“We didn’t get to do our May Training Day due to a large number of people being in space and all the COVID restrictions that were in place. We finally got to do our regular training like we used to and it was a blast! We are excited to be able to mentor in person this year,” Symonds said. 

For the upperclassmen that were new to Link Crew this year, planning, preparing, and getting started for Jumpstart was a new and exciting experience. Junior Nathan Stever participated this year as a Link Leader.

“I had a blast running Jumpstart day. The hours of preparation were all worth it in the end and the freshman seemed to enjoy the day as much as we did,” Stever said. 

As a freshman, stepping into a new and bigger environment is intimidating and overwhelming. There are longer hallways, more classrooms, and different bell schedules. Attending Jumpstart helps lessen any first day of school anxiety by getting freshmen to know their peers and classrooms. 

“Jumpstart day was really good, I made some new friends and the Link Crew leaders were helpful with finding classes,” freshman James Kimble mentioned. 

Link Crew fills in the role of an older sibling, answering questions, helping finding class rooms, and supporting the freshman in any way possible to ensure they’re comfortable with the school.