For many Freshman, the transition from middle school to high school can be a daunting and stressful experience.  Often times, there are  feelings of anxiety and shyness when walking the corridors of our school for the first few weeks. Fortunately, there is a group of students that attempt to help new Freshmen ease into High School know as the Peer Leaders.

Peer Leadership is a highly competitive program that students attempt to get into starting in the spring of their Junior year. They have to through a process to get admitted into the program. This process involves filling out an application form that asks for information about an individual’s leadership qualities and getting recommendations from at least 2 teachers. This program is advised by College Precalculus teacher Mrs Aurigemma and has 2 class periods which are period 7 and period 9. According to Mrs Aurigemma, this year’s motto is “Let your smile change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile.”

Last Friday, the Peer Leaders hosted a Freshman Volleyball tournament. This tournament was from 6 to 9pm in the High School gym. Mrs Aurigemma stated that the purpose of the tournament was to “get Freshman more involved and give them more positive high school experiences.”  This tournament split the Freshman into various teams and have them compete against each other. This tournament is also significant since it will be the first time the freshman will be allowed to play in a school volleyball tournament.

At the tournament, the Freshman were divided into seven teams with each team being advised by two peer leaders In addition, the 9th graders were able to pick the people they wanted on their team.  All of the teams worked extremely hard during the Volleyball tournament and played to the best of their ability. However, the winning team was the one consisting of Nick Commisso, Jack Randazzo, John D’ Amolo, Jack Kelly, Brenden Monahan, and Marco Tantillo led by Peer Leaders Zach Schiansai and Stephanie Conway.

The Freshman were so happy to have this opportunity to be able to compete against each other in volleyball. This is a special event for them since this is the only school volleyball tournament that they are able to compete in.  

Every December the school hosts an All Star Volleyball Tournament the day before the Holiday Break. This event has proven really fun to do and has grown considerably over the past few years. However, only Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors are allowed to participate in this exciting event. This is a bummer for many freshman every year who wish that they could participate in it. However, this event finally allowed Freshmen to have a Volleyball tournament. The overall thoughts about the tournament as stated by Freshman Chauncey Lewis,  “It is great that the Peer Leaders are hosting, since every grade has their own tournament excluding the freshman.”