From TV shows, to coming of age books, high school is depicted as a very huge transition, one that can be difficult to navigate. In reality, this idea is not far from the truth. Locating new classrooms, enduring harder classes, and experiencing changes in friend groups can be stressful for some freshmen. If only they had a designated older student to help them through this change from middle school. Thankfully, Hawk Wings is here to help.

Hawk Wings is a club at Woodland that focuses on spreading kindness throughout the school. They do this by celebrating teacher, janitor, and secretary days, and decorating the school with positive messages and bulletin boards. Recently, they have introduced a new program: Freshmen Ambassadors.

“We are having two to three seniors sign up to attend every freshman advisory once a month,” said Anna Muharem, Hawk Wings advisor. “The goal of this new program is to give the freshman a peer who can support them through their first year of high school.”

During the first meeting, the seniors were advised to learn the student’s names, pass out some stickers, and get to know a little bit about everyone. This was a casual introduction to get the students acclimated to the program.

“We want this program to be an organic way for the students to get to know each other. Outside of specific circumstances, it is not often that a senior becomes close with a freshman. We want to bring our students together from all grades,” said Muharem.

The first Freshman Ambassador advisory was October 4th, with the next date still pending. Hawk Wings encourages the freshmen and seniors to utilize this opportunity the best they can.

“The hope is that [the program] will foster new friendships, and the freshman will feel more comfortable walking through the hallways while recognizing friendly faces,” said Muharem.

Anyone who is interested in becoming a freshman ambassador is more than welcome to attend the next Hawk Wings meeting and sign up for the program.