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CHS Freshman Academy well attended

Posted August 01, 2015 11:00 pm

By Jim Beers For The Herald Tribune

Incoming freshmen at Chester High School had the opportunity to get a jump start on their high school experience by attending the Freshman Academy last Wednesday and Thursday at CHS.

The event celebrated its seventh year at CHS and was open to all incoming 9th graders. Organized and coordinated by new CHS Principal Dr. Sarah Gass and Franciene Sabens, CHS guidance counselor.

"Students who chose to participate engaged in group activities as well as informational sessions," Sabens said. "They also learned about extra-curricular opportunities and gained insight into what life is like in the of Chester High School students."

"We believe that Freshman Academy provides students with a 'jump start' to the high school experience," Gass said. "it is a great way to reduce some of the stress associated with the first few weeks of high school for incoming freshmen.

"Freshman Academy also allows students to bond with their fellow classmates from the three schools that feed into CHS."

Freshman students were organized and placed into their homeroom groups that will exist for the four years that they are at CHS. Each homeroom is monitored by a teacher who guides the students throughout that same four-year period.

CHS freshman homeroom teachers are Linda Sward, Sara Hammel, new biology teacher Zach Jones and Kristin Petrowske.

Freshman Academy started with a group welcome by Sabens, who made sure each student had a Freshman Academy Student Program booklet and that they all received a Student Handbook.

The Freshman Academy mobile app was handed out at http://my.yapp.us/XMCPZ. Sabens also informed the students about the Twitter hashtag: #2019FA and the text message system at Remind group:@2019chs to 81010.

Students were asked to complete a Freshman Academy Diagnostic paper and pencil document and a Student Self-Assessment document, after which they were explained the CHS Internet Acceptable Use Policy.

The policy included the Internet Acceptable Use Agreement, which had to be signed by each student in order to use the CHS internet system.

An alumni presentation was also scheduled from on Wednesday, during which time four former Chester High School students met with the freshmen for an in-depth question and answer session pertaining to various aspects of life at the school.

This year's alumni included Jeremy Blechle (Class of 2000) Sara Belcher-Hammel (Class of 2002); Cody Mileur (Class of 2014) and Chloe Wallace (Class of 2015).

The group shared their high school experiences, gave advice regarding how to succeed at CHS and answered a wide variety of questions from both students, Sabens and Dr. Gass.

"Be yourself," Mileur said. "Try to fit in; but also do your own thing."

Christine Feller, from the Attorney General's Office in Springfield, gave an excellent presentation pertaining to Internet safety. Feller works with Lisa Madigan's High Tech Crimes bureau and visits schools around the state teaching students how to be safe while using the internet.

More information about the Internet Safety Program can be obtained by contacting the High Crimes Bureau at 217-782-9030.

The first day of Freshman Academy came to a close with a Stinger Scavenger Hunt which took students throughout the school in search of 20 different painted Stinger mascots.

Each mascot was located in an area of importance to students and helped the freshmen get to know the school.

Peer mentor Elizabeth Heffernan, was on hand throughout the two-day event to assist teachers and trainers. Heffernan, an incoming senior, is very active at CHS in a wide variety of clubs, organizations and programs.

"I am really happy to be a peer mentor for the Freshman Academy again this year," she said. "I love being able to answer questions for connecting with the incoming freshmen each year."

The second day of Freshman Academy included getting familiar with the school internet program - the Skyward Student Management system.

While visiting the CHS webpage, the freshmen completed a brief, 20-question Learning Style Assessment to help determine their individual learning styles.

There are three primary learning styles including: visual, auditory and tactile. Some students use a combination of two or more styles.

By understanding a student's learning style, teachers can adjust their teaching methods to best reach and teach their individual students.

Results from the Learning Style Assessment will help administration, teachers and staff to develop coursework and teaching methods that will be the most successful in helping the students reach their highest potential.

Gass conducted the next session titled "Chester High School FYI." She was joined by Blechle, who is the new CHS Dean of Students and Sabens. All three reviewed the Student Handbook and shared their general expectations for 2015-2016.

Interim Superintendent Bill Riley was also on hand to welcome the freshmen to CHS and introduce himself.

The final major activity of the academy was the Freshman Olympics competition. This fun-filled series of four games pits the four freshman homerooms in light-hearted competition to determine the champions of Freshman Academy.

This year, the homerooms competed in the marshmallow challenge, a trivia contest; a yoga ball against the wall group challenge; and a granny-style basketball shooting free throw contest.

In all four of these activities the groups had to use teamwork, knowledge that had been learned throughout the academy, physical skills and overall group skills to achieve the goals.

Freshman Academy came to a close on Thursday with a family-style picnic/BBQ. All freshmen along with their parents and academy staff were treated to hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and drinks to bring an end to the two-day event.

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