How do you hold the attention of 385 high school freshmen?
First, crank up some music. Then, dress two dudes in mullet wigs, jean shorts, and muscle shirts and let them tell corny jokes about being successful in school. But that only works for a few minutes. Next divide them into large groups and send them out to do things like blindfolded tricycle races, group hula-hoop relays, giant 20-person leap frog, and human bowling.
If it sounds crazy, that’s because it is. But it’s also crazy fun.
“Freshman Orientation does several things,” says Greater Owensboro Young Life Director Chris Dillbeck. “We want their first experience of high school to be fun, but it’s also a way to build relationships with their assigned mentors. Then the whole time we’re giving them important information about how to be successful in high school.”
At Freshman Orientation, junior and senior student leaders, who are assigned to a few freshmen each, guide their group of freshmen around the school for an impromptu tour. Truth be told, there’s nothing impromptu about it. Each of the mentors are trained by Young Life staff and the entire day is planned and rehearsed. The result is well-organized chaos.
The opportunity for this partnership presented itself when Apollo was looking for a new approach to Freshman Orientation. “We sat down with the guidance counselors at Apollo and asked them how we as Young Life could help them do what they were trying to accomplish,” Dillbeck said. “What we came up with was basically having a ‘club’ for all the freshmen and inviting our adult leaders to come in and help with the rest of the day too.” It was a win-win.
From there, the mentor idea carried over and took new life. “Young Life is a major factor in training our mentors to be effective leaders, helping run the orientation day and then maintaining a positive relationship throughout the year,” says Apollo Guidance Counselor Keith Johnson. “The goal of Young Life leaders mirrors what we want from our mentors. We want out mentors to be a few steps ahead of the freshmen in maturity [so they can] take a freshman by the hand to help them in their journey.”
Young Life’s influence on the Apollo Mentoring Program was introduced to Apollo High School three years ago. Since then, Young Life’s involvement in Freshman Orientation has spread to Daviess County High School and looks forward to being involved at Owensboro High School as well. At Apollo, there are 140 mentors who are paired with freshman to assist them throughout the year. At County, there are over 60 “ambassadors” who are paired with homerooms.
“Young Life has been great for Apollo High School. It has exceeded all expectations I had when we first opened our doors to Young Life three years ago,” said Apollo Principal Charlie Broughton. “I have seen firsthand the impact on students that were on the wrong path and how their life has been turned around for the better due to their connection and involvement in Young Life.”
And that’s what it’s all about.
Young Life has had such an impact at Apollo that it was an easy transition to Daviess County. DCHS principal Matt Mason echoed Broughton’s reaction to Young Life. “Young Life has been a great addition to DCHS. Teenagers today need mentoring and character development more than ever and Young Life has been phenomenal in providing us with additional help. Students who have been impacted by their influence have become more involved in school and in their community. Young Life is definitely changing lives to impact the future!”
As time goes on, there is another level to Young Life, called “club,” which meets on Monday nights off campus. At club, students experience the same kind of fun as Freshman Orientation, but on a smaller scale. Adult leaders begin an honest conversation about faith at club to introduce kids to God’s story and how they fit into it. From there, students have the opportunity go to Young Life camp and are encouraged to become greater leaders in their schools.
It has taken several years for Young Life to reach that deeper level at Apollo, but again, the results are very noticeable. “Young Life has placed positive and caring adults in the lives of many students that were not getting that at home,” Broughton said. “I am excited for the future of Young Life at Apollo High School.”
Whether through Freshman Orientation, club, or summer camp, Dillbeck says Young Life “wants to pour into young people, and show them that they’re valued. Some of it is crazy fun, but it’s more than that. It’s fun, but it’s fun with a purpose.”
Young Life is an ecumenical organization that reaches out to middle school, high school and college-aged kids in all 50 states and more than 90 countries around the world. Today Young Life is active in 8,000 locations. The goal of Young Life is to place caring adults with students through school visits during lunch and sporting events. The adults are screened, selected, and trained to interact with students by starting conversations and being consistently present to students.
To find out more about Young Life, visit http://owensboro.younglife.org/Pages/aboutyl.aspx
